Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
People coming to door offering free loft insulation from the Council
A young man came to my door in Hewitt Road a few minutes ago, he mentioned the council and that I may be entitled to free loft insulation, but said I would need someone to inspect my loft. I asked him for his ID. He said he was a trainee and didn't have one but was working with surveyors who were up the road and could go and get them in a couple of minutes but they would have to come and inspect my loft. I said I'm not speaking to anyone without ID, and closed the door.
If he/they are asking for access to people's homes, someone may believe them and let them in.
Tags for Forum Posts: insulation, scam, solar electricity
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Shula Levy on
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He came to ours yesterday evening (Sydney Road), spoke hardly any English - so we closed the door as well.
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Permalink Reply by pamish on
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If I'm on the case, when these things happen I say, you won't mind me taking your photograph before you come in will you? And reach into pocket towards phone or camera - it doesn't have to be there. That sorts out the real from the thieves - in fact so far I've not met any real.
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Permalink Reply by Harringay SNT on
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Thank you.
As stated on another thread.
We are aware that a lot of the Insulation Grants have now come through and the installers are working and might be looking to encourage as many as they can to apply for the grants.
However you are very correct not to let them in to your home.
These companies will contact you as a result of a grant application and arrange a survey. Based on the results they will arrange for their installers to do the work.
Do not let cold callers into your home and take the time to examine any identification presented to you. If in doubt keep them out.
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Permalink Reply by Alison P on
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I'm really interested in whether it is as straightforward as this SNT post implies. There are are a lot of different companies doing similar work in this area and surely some of the legit ones are doing cold calling? I do hope so because we had a call from two women last week from SIG energy management - they weren't offering free insulation, just loft insulation as part of the govt CERT program.
It was a cold call but they had id cards and my partner let them in as it's something we've been thinking about for ages. He was really impressed with them - they looked in the attic, explained what we'd need to do before the installation could happen, and filled in a form about what we neeeded. We had a telephone follow-up very quickly and a date has since been arranged to come and do the work.
Has anyone else dealt with them at all? I'm feeling nervous now that this is some kind of elaborate scam, despite being fairly confident from the literature we've been left and the SIG website that it isn't.
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Permalink Reply by Germana on
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This looks like the real thing, I wouldn't worry....
In fact I also had some time ago a cold call from someone who did seem to be genuine. He was very polite and professional, and did not ask to come in. He also seemed to know a lot about energy efficiency. He just wanted to leave some information with me. I didn't take it because our loft is already insulated. We are considering solar PV panels but we want to do our own research first.
It's also extremely possible there are some con artists trying to use this as an excuse to come inside your house - and some of the ones described here do sound dodgy - but it would be very unfortunate if people declined to make their houses more efficient and take advantage of a good government subsidy because they are scared of con artists. I guess the companies involved really need to do a better job at leaving information ahead of time, really.
To me the best thing to do is to ask for a leaflet and contact details, and never let anyone in the first time they come around. Check the ID carefully too. Then read the leaflet and research it. Do not trust people with small IDs, who insist on coming in, or who ask (or shout!) if you already "received your grant". That's certainly not how it works!
Perhaps we can also use this site to exchange information and details about genuine companies that are involved in this?
A first step is to check whether the company is a member of the Renewable Energy Association here: http://www.r-e-a.net/MembersTab/registry/ or of any other organisation they claim to be part of (as SIG does)...
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Permalink Reply by AxP on
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Can I ask what they are saying they'll charge you? Or is it free? We had Miller Patterson round - they want £199 'contribution' for the work... Thanks
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I have spoken to the loft contractors and they will not cold call. They will post a leaflet through the door and then respond to any contact made by the home owner.
It is likely that this might be the latest distraction burglary ruse. I will let the powers that be know, could you describe him please?
Jono
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Permalink Reply by Alison on
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Young, black, English accent, khaki jacket, I can't remember much else. He had a notebook he was 'taking notes' with. He was quite confident that he and the 'surveyors' should be allowed entry to see the loft. But I thought they would only do it by appointment and/or have proper ID. He was very insistent that he was offering 'free benefits', and that he/they needed access.
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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on
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It may be that your 5'7" caller has finally found her contact lenses so now she's ready to insulate your loft. Don't let her pull the rockwool over your eyes.
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Permalink Reply by Abi on
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Had this a few weeks ago in N15. I felt quite sorry for the guy as he seemed to be getting a lot of doors slammed in his face but I (politely) did the same. If there was such a scheme then I shouldn't imagine it would be promoted in this way...
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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on
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They'd be paid on commission, just like chuggers. I can believe that this system is being promoted this way. All the best salespeople have stories of starting out in jobs like this, doors slammed in faces etc.
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Permalink Reply by JulieB on
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We've just had two strange people doing the same thing, I'm on Conway Road.
It was a mid-twenties women with mid brown curly hair, she was wearing a yellow high visibility vest and had an ID round her neck. But I didn't recognise the logo and the writing was tiny. The man looked Mediterranean with a very shaped thin beard and was wearing a light grey suit. He was maybe early-mid 30s. They just looked wrong - like they had tried to dress up to look official but had failed really badly.
They asked me if my grant for loft insulation had come through and just said, 'we're fine thankyou' and shut the door, the man kept trying to talk/shout asking me when the grant had come through.
They went next door and a couple of minutes later my neighbour sort of chased them away from his door and shouted at them to go away (but in less polite words).
I remembered reading about this sort of (possible) scam on here and it must have stuck in my mind so thank you HOL.
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