B&Q recently purchased a draughty old house as an experiment and spent £80,000 kitting it out, the result was a 70% reduction in carbon emissions.  This experiment also highlighted that local tradesmen knew little about green technology or The Green Deal, yet many home owners were better very much aware of the Scheme and much keener.  A lot of people are talking about it, which stimulates the whole market.

With domestic electricity up 22.4% and gas up 12.9% since Sept 2010, increasing households are in fuel poverty, the official threshold for when over 10% of income is spent on energy.

A recent DGCOS commissioned survey found energy saving is now the main reason households install double glazing.

As with all Government initiatives, businesses are keen to participate due to the increased market demand they generate and also guaranteed income.  This means that there will be huge discrepancies in the quality of workmanship carried out.  Therefore consumer protection is now even more crucial.

A recent DECC press release highlighted consumer protection as one of four key strands, with Chris Huhne urging all those involved to put it at the heart of the Green Deal.

DGCOS’ consultation with DECC has centred around this issue.  As DGCOS campaigns tirelessly for the rights of the consumer and also puts installers through a rigorous quality control procedure, this significantly reduces the risk to their customers of things going wrong.

If you are a consumer, please visit the DGCOS website to find out more about the services that we offer and to get a list of your local DGCOS accredited installers.

www.dgcos.org.uk

We are also on Facebook and Twitter.

Published December 2011

The Department of Energy and Climate Change has announced the Green Deal, which will be launched in 2012

The Green Deal intends to reduce carbon emissions cost effectively by improving energy efficiency of Britain’s properties.

One quarter of the UKs carbon emissions comes from energy used to heat homes.  The Green Deal is a programme that will bring many of Britain’s aging buildings up to date.  Bill payers will be able to benefit from improvements without having to upfront the cash.

The capital will be provided by private businesses and they will recoup their money via repayments made on the homeowner’s energy bills.  The estimated savings that are made will have to either equal or exceed the cost of the work.  This is a very strong stipulation of the Deal.

Extra help will also be available for those on low incomes or homes that are expensive to treat.  This also increases the incentive for owner occupiers, tenants and landlords to take action.

The repayments on the bill stay with the property, so should you take advantage of the Scheme and then move house, the new owner would then take up the repayments.

There will be tight control on the Scheme with regards to consumer protection, to ensure that customers are treated fairly.

For more information about the Green Deal please click the following link:

http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/legislation/energybill/1010-green-deal-summary-proposals.pdf

published November 2011

In a recent survey commissioned by DGCOS, 93% of consumers were happy with their new installations,   but for the 7% who weren’t satisfied, there is little hope of resolving the situation or getting their money back.  The main source of frustration was poor workmanship (86%) and for 73% of those the problems remained unresolved.  These are people falling through the holes in the existing consumer protection and who then reinforce the negative image of the industry.

On commissioning installers, people think they are protected when they’re not.  Most insurance backed guarantees are littered with get-out clauses, such as if a consumer buys using finance or a credit card, they can be passed from pillar to post as the finance company is technically liable.  Finance companies are not geared up to deal with home improvement problems, which can leave consumers disappointed and out of pocket.

Only 8% of customers retrospectively offered an Insurance Backed Guarantee actually take it up.  At DGCOS we believe this is unacceptable because it leaves customers vulnerable.  This is why every purchase made from a DGCOS accredited installer automatically comes with a comprehensive IBG.   In addition to this there is also free deposit and work in progress insurances along with many other benefits, including unfettered free access to the Ombudsman at any time.

So if the worst should happen, DGCOS ensures that members’ consumer contracts are completed, servicing and remedial work is carried out to the consumers’ satisfaction and that complaints are dealt with swiftly, effectively and robustly.

As this service is FREE, there is no reason why you would choose a non registered DGCOS installer.

For more information on the scheme please visit our website www.dgcos.org.uk

DGCOS – the Double Glazing and Conservatory Ombudsman Scheme is an independent body representing the Double Glazing industry.  An Ombudsman is someone to whom you can address a complaint about an organisation or body if you feel you have been dealt with unfairly or have suffered some financial or other loss you would like investigating.

The Ombudsman for DGCOS is Dr Ronald Barham.  He has full autonomy to deal with complaints and disputes against members of DGCOS in accordance with the powers set out in the Quality Assurance Ombudsman Procedural Rules 1996.

The sort of complaints he can investigate are:

• Breaches of contract
• Negligence
• Non compliance with Quality Assurance Codes of Practice or Procedures

However he can only investigate if the complaint is against one of the member organisations, is about something which happened during their period of membership or relates to a member which operates in the UK, not overseas.

The service is FREE to the complainant and to members of DGCOS.

The Ombudsman cannot investigate something which is being taken or has been decided by another tribunal or court.  The client must contact the member first to try and resolve the dispute.

To download the full 6 page guide on how the Ombudsman investigates complaints please click on the link:

http://www.dgcos.org.uk/assets/Ombudsman_leaflet_100dpi.pdf

Published November 2011