General Chat

We have an alert system in our area used by several local bodies including the police and neighbourhood watch. The following is an interesting one.

Alert sent on behalf of Trading Standards:
Warm and Safe Homes Campaign
A scam which happens every year involves cold calls to individual’s homes offering free insulation/boilers/heating systems all apparently funded by Government Grant.
My advice would always be “Never sign up to anything straight away” away – if it is a genuine offer, the provider will let you take the time to consider what is actually on offer; read the small print and to do some research on the provider to see what reputation they have.
Having said that, I do understand how confusing pressured it can be if someone is on your doorstep, or even in your house, trying to persuade you to sign up. If you begin to feel overwhelmed, you can ask them to leave and, by law, they have to respect that request. You may ask them to come back after you have had time to think or have arranged for someone else to be present or you can simply ask them to leave and never return.
Although you do technically have a 14 day cooling off period if you sign up to the contract while the trader was still at your house, make sure you use that time to consider whether you wanted to sign up and to cancel the contract if that is what you want to do.
It is very important to note that if you allow work to start straight away, although you can still cancel within those 14 days, by agreeing to allow the work to start you are agreeing to pay for any work carried out up to the time you do eventually cancel.
Whilst I cannot say that all doorstep callers are bogus, I can say with 100% certainty that any legitimate business will be happy to give you the space to think about what is on offer.
The annual Warm and Safe Homes Campaign focuses on the need for people to be able to stay warm and safe in their homes. It raises public and political awareness of fuel poverty, and help and support is available locally for those struggling to heat their homes. Grants are available from a number of not-for-profit and statutory organisations based in England and Wales, with the funds needed to support relevant events and activities taking place during the campaign period, from Wednesday 28 November to Fuel Poverty Awareness Day on Friday 15 February 2019.
Included on their website are 10 strategies for people in fuel poverty. This may help you identify individuals who are not coping with the cold weather.
https://www.nea.org.uk/campaigns-policy/wash-2018/top-10-coping-strategies/
There is also a guide available to download which can be used to help anyone struggling with fuel poverty to come up with some steps to improve their situation; it has sections specifically aimed at helping vulnerable customers. https://www.nea.org.uk/campaigns-policy/wash-2018/warm-and-safe-homes-action-guide/ .
In the same vein, Simple Energy Advice is a government endorsed website with advice and guidance for anyone who wants to reduce their energy bills or make their home warmer. https://www.simpleenergyadvice.org.uk/

Ann thank you for this thread had a phone call Tuesday & again today will be careful about when we get anymore contact .it was help reduce Electric bills & getting better value heating .Barbara .will check Web sites on my comp later :-)

When anyone cold calls I always say not interested.i don't buy at the door
I then close the front door

Similarly when the mormons and jehover witness call i say no thanks !! This is a Catholic household and I'm not interested

Closing the door asap seems to be the best way

Many done here in Scotland funded by the Scottish Government.

I think they are just saying to make sure the offer is from genuine people not scammers by double checking.

How glad I am that I live in a council (housing association) house.

After all the trouble I had with an insulating company last year, I wont be signing anything else to be done ever again!!

Florence in the hebrides

Sharron, I give these sort of callers, if they're too persistent, the Council's number :-D