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When Jane Wallbank found out she’d been awarded free upgrades to make her home warmer and cheaper to run, it sounded like “a fairytale”.
“Bills have become astronomically expensive in the last few years,” said Jane, a support worker for people with learning needs.
Then she qualified for internal wall insulation, smart radiator sensors and an extractor fan under the ECO (Energy Company Obligation) scheme, designed to upgrade homes for those in fuel poverty and make them greener.
It is paid for by energy bill payers and overseen by a patchwork of energy companies, the government and other agencies.
“I almost felt special, like I could cut energy bills and have a bit left each month,” said Jane, a single mother-of-two, who works full-time but receives some universal credit.
But she ended up without heating for three weeks, a home flooded from top to bottom, mouldy floors, holes in the walls, doubled heating bills and asthma attacks.
“It’s been the worst experience of my life, and it just feels never-ending,” Jane told Sky News.
“I’m just exhausted, truly, truly exhausted. I have spent every moment I have, between work and kids, pulling furniture around.”
Jane now covers her floor after it turned mouldy. Pic: Jane Wallbank
Her home is one of at least 30,000 left with defects by the ECO scheme.
The technologies on offer are well evidenced to improve homes, and many installations were done well under ECO.
But experts say the poor oversight and money available incentivised “cowboy” installers to do the upgrades even in homes that weren’t suitable, or to shoddy standards.
The floor suffered water damage when radiators were attached incorrectly. Pic: Jane Wallbank
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