It has been announced that to have your home inspected to participate in Green Deal will cost you £100 for just the inspection whether your house is suitable or not I believe that they are offering the temptation of £1000 & quote; cash back & quote; as a carrot! Everyone must be familiar with the Green Deal as proposed by the government in the alleged quest for energy efficiency, most addresses must have been cold called first from India and then with a recorded message even if like me you are theoretically on the Telephone Preference Service. It is alleged that insulating your loft and cavity walls plus double glazing can save you a fortune on your energy, however, consumer group Which has grave reservations about the assessments for the Energy Performance Certificate. It would appear that said assessments only take into account an average of an average and therefore it may be the case that after taking out the government backed LOAN they want you to, you may not actually save any money as a result of the works undertaken.
There is also some question about the early payment clause, if in future you actually have the money available to pay off the loan early you will be hit by huge Bank charges. Most people who’s house has been upgraded since the mid 1980s will probably already have some loft insulation ( the biggest energy loss ) and most people have double glazing by now, cavity wall insulation can cause major damp problems. It would appear that the Green Deal has all the hallmarks of a stock market parasite investment scam to entice currently solvent people into taking out a loan against their house in the hope that their unfortunate victim will never be able to afford to pay it off. I suppose this particularly applies to pensioners who currently own their own home outright, who are income poor yet their only aim in life is to pass their property onto their children.
It’s all too easy to be enticed by the prospect of lower energy bills as already 15% inflated by Green Taxes and rising, yet your energy payment will simply be replaced by the repayment of the loan so that in actual fact many people could save precisely nothing, or in some cases pay out more every month. The whole Green Deal is wide open to miss-selling and anyone even thinking about it should be wary of the snake oil salesmen likely to move in for a quick buck, I suggest that people should be very wary of anyone claiming that they can save money by taking out a loan and going into debt, especially pensioners who may not be as sharp minded as they once were. If you are short on ready cash it is said that a good set of thick curtains are almost as good as double glazing at reducing heat loss through your windows!
Gordon Pye