Elderly man left without hot water for a year after ‘botched’ scheme

Rogue contractors have left a pensioner’s home in an ‘unlivable’ state, forcing him to live without hot water for a year.

Raymond Morris, 80, took up the government-funded ECO4 scheme to make his home in Newton St Margarets, Herefordshire, more energy-efficient.

But the great-great-grandad claims he has now been left to live in freezing conditions after workmen left the job half done.

He relies on an electric shower and kettle for hot water, and goes to bed early with an electric blanket to sleep through the cold nights.

Raymond said he had tried to contact government, its regulator Ofgem, Citizens’ Advice and Herefordshire Council – but says nobody has been willing to help.

Retired lorry driver Raymond said: ‘I found I was eligible to get government funding that could bring everything up to energy efficient standards and I thought why not.

‘I began looking up companies who were certified and qualified to carry out this work and found one that looked good in Birmingham. They come out and do surveys and tell you whether you can have insulation, solar panels and heat pumps etc and I was told I could.

‘My boiler packed up around this time last year so I began looking then, but the work only started in May this year. They used a third party from Newcastle-under-Lyme to come out for the insulation and a plumber from Wales came and dismantled the boiler and drained the system down.’

Raymond said after the company did some work, including wall and roof insulation, they ‘left him in a lurch’.

They took the radiators off the walls to put in insulation, but did not put them back on.

Raymond said the agreed roof solar panels, heat pumps, boiler unit and new radiators were never completed.

The previous radiators were drained and removed leaving only unattached pipes and the only heat source in the house is an old wood-burning stove and electric blanket.

He added: ‘The second phase of the heat pump and the solar panels was then due to take place on September 3. But when it came to date they gave me some cock and bull story about people being off ill and put the date back.

‘Then I couldn’t get hold of them at all. I kept asking when they could so the work because I the winter months were coming up. But then all of a sudden they stopped replying or answering my calls, they even blocked my number. So my family tried and he did the same to them.

‘I tried to take on another firm to finish the work as they said the funding for here has already been spent. So I tried contacting the government, Ofgem, Citizens’ Advice and Herefordshire Council but I’ve just been going around in circles.’

Raymond said he doesn’t want the situation he’s been through to happen to anyone else.

A spokesperson for TrustMark, which certifies contractors as competent to carry out work funded by the scheme, said it believed all the agreed work scheduled for Raymond’s property had been carried out – which he strenuously denies.

Raymond added: ‘I have emails where they confirm funding has been agreed for wall and roof insulation, ventilation, solar panels and an air source heat pump.

‘I can assure you only the insulation was done so the agreed work has not been carried out at all.’

After months of frustration, London-based firm GRM & Partners, has now agreed to take on the work at the rented property starting later this month.

Raymond added: ‘After this nightmare, I will believe it when I see it. But it just goes to show the argument about funding running out can’t be true as this other firm says I qualify for it too.’

The company which originally agreed to do the work was Birmingham-based iEnergy.

It’s director Naser Ali said: ‘With regards to this customer, it fell under a government scheme but the funding run out. We are not installers and use third parties to undertake our work. The customer’s boiler was already knackered and that was an issue between him and his landlady.

‘Some of the work was carried out but we were unable to carry out more because the grant had been stopped. I sympathise with him and I wish I had £10,000 to provide him with a new boiler but I have a wife and kids of my own to feed.

‘I can only apologise but when the money isn’t there anymore to undertake the work, there is little I can do about it. If he’d paid for a boiler and I hadn’t installed it then I could see the problem. But with these government grants the situation can change almost overnight. I had to block his number because I had all his family calling me up and threatening me but it was out of my hands.’

A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesperson said: ‘While we are unable to comment on individual cases, we would urge Mr Morris and anyone with concerns to engage with TrustMark for a resolution.

‘Insulation and other energy efficiency measures fitted under government schemes must be fitted by a TrustMark registered installer and to the highest standards.

‘Any measures installed must be safe and effective, with issues promptly and properly rectified.’

An Ofgen spokesperson said: ‘Ofgem doesn’t comment on individual cases. However, given the nature of the concerns raised we will expect the supplier who has claimed the project to investigate.’

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