Free cavity wall & loft insulation....

stoofa

stoofa

stoofa

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We were doorstepped by a company offering this service via the government fund.
They took some basic details from us and said that the entire cost should be covered under the grant scheme.
They told us they needed to do an inspection, I booked half a day off work and they came and did what they needed to do.
We were then told than all of the old insulation needed removing from the loft as they were only lying the new stuff. This we did and a second inspection was scheduled.
Half a day's holiday again - they came, they surveyed. We got a call two days later telling us all was fine and the grant covered everything.
We arranged for everything to be done on Tuesday 12th July as my wife, working in a school, would be off work and available.

Fast forward, yesterday I get a call, voicemail left - sorry, all the grants have run out, we're not coming to complete the work on the 12th....or ever.
I've tried for a couple of days to get in touch with them - phone calls taken with promises of calls back, emails unanswered etc.

I assume I have no recourse here - no biggie I guess, although the fact we currently have no loft insulation at all is something that will have to be sorted.

Anyone know of any companies that are still offering this service based on the government grant, so effectively free for the home owner - and are reliable? So we can get them in and they will actually follow through with the promised work?

Ta
 
We had a similar issue with replacement loft insulation for our property (old Victorian). They visited us and did the survey (after I checked the legitimacy of what they were saying about the grant, who they were, etc) but then said for health and safety reasons they couldn't put in the new insulation in the loft because of the lack of height between the roof and the floor.

Kind of weird as they said properties like ours were being focused on due to age.

I just forgot about it, bit of a joke really.
 
There's a growing trade for removing the cavity wall insulation and it's not cheap. I just paid £1000 to have some removed.

The cavity is there for a reason.

Loft insulation however. There's quite a few deals every now and again for loft roll in various diy places.
 
Who were they knocking on the door?

Plenty of companies like Dyson and Mark Group will do it free if your postcode is covered by grants, just contact them. I won't trust any unknown cowboy who knocks on the door.
 
Plenty of companies like Dyson and Mark Group will do it free if your postcode is covered by grants, just contact them. I won't trust any unknown cowboy who knocks on the door.
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There are no grants for loft insulation anymore - the government stopped the scheme in April.

OP - Just get a local company in - shouldn't be more that a few hundred quid.
 
maccapacca said:
There's a growing trade for removing the cavity wall insulation and it's not cheap. I just paid £1000 to have some removed.

The cavity is there for a reason.

Loft insulation however. There's quite a few deals every now and again for loft roll in various diy places.
Click to expand...

Yea, worst thing we ever did was the cavity wall insulation, the house feels so airless and stale in comparison.
 
LeeUK said:
Who were they knocking on the door?

Plenty of companies like Dyson and Mark Group will do it free if your postcode is covered by grants, just contact them. I won't trust any unknown cowboy who knocks on the door.
Click to expand...

We used Dyson, no complaints there.

Wan't free though, cavity wall insulation is only free if 50% or more of your property wall is cavity, as ours is end of terrace and mostly glass front and back we had to foot the bill - around £300 , others came in around £500 so Dyson got the order and did the deed around 1 month later.
 
With reference to the "door knockers" - it was a company I knew of (Kershaw). Not sure if they are national, but I'd seen their adverts and they also sponsored the local football league team a few seasons ago, so it wasn't cowboy's I was letting in - although the way they decided to just "stop the work" makes them look rather amateur.
 
stoofa said:
We were doorstepped by a company offering this service via the government fund.
They took some basic details from us and said that the entire cost should be covered under the grant scheme.
They told us they needed to do an inspection, I booked half a day off work and they came and did what they needed to do.
We were then told than all of the old insulation needed removing from the loft as they were only lying the new stuff. This we did and a second inspection was scheduled.
Half a day's holiday again - they came, they surveyed. We got a call two days later telling us all was fine and the grant covered everything.
We arranged for everything to be done on Tuesday 12th July as my wife, working in a school, would be off work and available.

Fast forward, yesterday I get a call, voicemail left - sorry, all the grants have run out, we're not coming to complete the work on the 12th....or ever.
I've tried for a couple of days to get in touch with them - phone calls taken with promises of calls back, emails unanswered etc.

I assume I have no recourse here - no biggie I guess, although the fact we currently have no loft insulation at all is something that will have to be sorted.

Anyone know of any companies that are still offering this service based on the government grant, so effectively free for the home owner - and are reliable? So we can get them in and they will actually follow through with the promised work?

Ta
Click to expand...

Did you sign any paper work? if you proof that yo did you may seek compensation for hours not paid from work, as they agreed to do the work and later refused.
 
Skii said:
We used Dyson, no complaints there.

Wan't free though, cavity wall insulation is only free if 50% or more of your property wall is cavity, as ours is end of terrace and mostly glass front and back we had to foot the bill - around £300 , others came in around £500 so Dyson got the order and did the deed around 1 month later.
Click to expand...

I had Dyson do the loft insulation nearly 2 years ago and got it done free due to my postcode. Only complaints I had were it took them over 2 months after the survey before they came and installed it with no communication apart from being told every time I called them that someone would be in touch.

Didn't get cavity done but could have had that done free too.
 
I stupidly asked british gas to look at doing my loft insulation for free. Told them all about my loft when I booked the survey (low roof, polystyrene beads mixed in with the existing fibreglass). Not a problem they said.

Surveyor turned up and told use exactly what I had told them and said they couldn't do it. Cowboys. Got my mate to do it as he used to do it for a living.
 
LeeUK said:
Who were they knocking on the door?

Plenty of companies like Dyson and Mark Group will do it free if your postcode is covered by grants, just contact them. I won't trust any unknown cowboy who knocks on the door.
Click to expand...
It's only my personal experience, but after the jerking about I got from the Mark Group, I won't let them set foot in my property either.
 
Never used Mark Group. I've only used Dyson. I just gave Mark Group as an example are they are another national company doing free insulation grants same as Dyson were.
 
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