Streetwise: Havant pensioners' 'nightmare' after being ripped off to fix clapped-out boiler

But it turned out they’d been conned into a dodgy deal and more expense correcting faulty installation work caused by a rogue trader cashing in on the scheme.

With current government emphasis on household energy efficient saving measures to reduce soaring bills, they were anxious to tell readers to beware of a legacy of scams and shoddy work.

The Coogan’s plight began when the eye-catching flyer they’d received from a company extoling the virtue of fitting replacement boilers landed on their doormat.

Within 24 hours a slick fast-talking salesman from Greenheat, the trading name of Pioneer Marketing (UK) Ltd, turned up on the Havant couple’s doorstep with an offer he claimed would be madness to refuse.

What irresistibly clinched the deal for Terry 74, was the 12-year guarantee that covered replacing the boiler with a new one if it broke down and couldn’t be economically repaired. Repayments would be via their electricity bills.

He promptly signed up to a finance agreement locking them into repayments of £42 per month for 12 years. Including interest. It added up to an eye-watering total of more than £6,000 for a small combi boiler which bought outright could have saved him around £5,000.

It wasn’t long before problems started to emerge with the installation, and Terry spent the best part of a year trying to get them fixed.

‘It was a classic nightmare,’ he said. ‘First the boiler controls went haywire, then there was a pipework leak, and the heating would randomly come on and off.

‘A persistent drop in water pressure kept stopping the boiler from working unless we kept re pressuring the system. Every day we were left wondering what next would go wrong with it.

‘We got a British Gas engineer take a look and he said he’d never seen such a shoddy installation. It would have to be ripped out and completely reinstalled.’

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Another four months down the line when nothing had been done, a furious Terry discovered the company had ceased trading, and Streetwise was unable to contact it.

‘The only reason we were persuaded to sign up was the guarantee. I thought we couldn’t lose with a Green Deal package provider, but we’ve now been hit with a £900 bill to get the boiler re-installed and still have to pay off the expensive loan. The plain fact is we’ve been ripped off big time.’

The couple’s predicament follows hard on the heels of a steady stream of complaints from Streetwise readers they’d been mis-sold insulation and solar panels linked to long term high interest rate loans that cost them far more than any energy bill savings.

Pensioner Gosport couple Don and Avril Poore were one of hundreds of people signed up to a 25-year loan by Home Energy and Lifestyle Management Systems (HELMS) offering ‘free’ solar panels to slash their electricity bills.

They were mesmerised with reams of small print home assessment paperwork which concealed they were contracted to paying for them via their electricity company, sending their bills through the roof.

Don said: ‘We were told the panels would save us more than £500 annually by selling the surplus electricity generated back to the grid, but our bills went through the roof.

‘We are so grateful to Streetwise for stepping in and helping us to obtain compensation. We are on a strictly limited income and without your help we’d never have be able to pay them.’

Other desperate readers got in touch with horror stories of being doorstepped by cavity wall insulation cowboys who’d insulated unsuitable properties to cash in on Green Deal finance.

Hilsea readers complained about an insolvent cold-calling unconscionable contractor who’d failed to survey their timber framed homes before negligently installing foam roof insulation products which could have resulted in them becoming structurally unsound and un-mortgageable.

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With a recent survey indicating more than half the households in the country planning to apply for Green Deal home grants to help slash rocketing winter gas bills, concerns have been raised about the robustness of the scheme’s consumer protection measures.

Green Deal contractors and installers must be registered to qualify for funding to help weed out rogues.

But with two home energy improvement schemes already down the pan following inadequate measures to compensate consumers from unqualified fraudulent traders, questions have been raised about how the government will ensure only quality suppliers carry out the work.

A sceptical spokesperson for national trading standards said: 'We already have a big problem with rogue traders and the current green schemes have all the hallmarks of an initiative which will replicate the same kind of problems that have occurred in the past.

'The government insisted it would be scrupulous when it comes to the vetting process, but inevitably rogue traders will continue to find ways of slipping through the net.

‘Criminals exploit new trends to deceive and defraud consumers and we recognise concerns that some may seek to abuse government green homes grants.

‘We urge people to ensure they obtain more than one initial quote, insist on a comprehensive written contract, and make sure they understand the full details of the grant and what it covers before they agree to have work done.’

Pensioner Terry Coogan is still furious at the way he was conned and locked into his extortionate replacement boiler deal.

‘People must be made aware and on the lookout for energy efficiency scams,’ he said.

‘If I had my way I’d have cold calling and leafleting banned. To deter rogues, you can obtain from Hampshire trading standards a no cold calling sticker for your door or window to inform them they’re not welcome.

‘Just point unwelcome callers to it and tell them never to darken your doorstep again.’