Is the gov funded free boiler a scam?

[Thisisweirdd]

We’ve applied for a free boiler for my grandma (England). The company has confirmed eligibility and done the survey. How long does it usually take from application to completion? It has been 2 months with no date for the boiler being fitted.

Also, a surveyor from the boiler company came round to my grandma’s house. He spent 3 hours there taking photos of all the rooms and random objects. We thought it would just be the radiators, pipes etc. We thought he would only be visiting for half an hour or so, not three hours. Is this normal? My grandma told me she felt really uncomfortable.

Should we just start the whole process again and go with another company? AIBU to think this might be a scam?

I'm not sure if it's a scam or not, but the three hour survey & taking photos of random objects sounds off to me.

I'd be contacting the local Trading Standards Office for advice.

Good luck

Yea the three hours is ridiculous. I’d be asking for an explanation.

Thank you both! It’s very weird that he spent so much time at my grandma’s house and she was too nervous to ask him to go. Not sure whether to report this to trading standards or the boiler company. We thought they would’ve booked a day for installing the boiler by now.

I had a new central heating boiler fitted 3 years ago through the ECO scheme. It was legitimate and I did finally get the boiler fitted, but it took three and a half months from when I first contacted them. There are a lot of hoops to jump through. They did several surveys and did take a lot of photos as you describe. I remember the main survey taking two to three hours, so what you are saying doesn't seem out of the ordinary.

Well the scheme isn’t a scam but companies offering it could be using it as a scam

3 hours is weird. It’s a boiler change. I’d be finding an alternative tradesman who operates the scheme

I got one a few years ago ..it was perfectly legit .I did pay extra as I wanted the boiler moving upstairs and the old hot water tank taking out but if it had of been a straight like for like swap then I wouldn't have paid anything

I had this done at the end of last year. They can sometimes do more than just the boiler, I got external insulation as well. The three hours sounds about right, they look at all the radiators and existing insulation as they have to show they can increase the epc rating by doing the work in order to get the funding. My survey was in late July, the funding got approved around the end of August and the work was done at the end of November. It can take some time as they will already have work booked, as well as waiting for the approval from the eco scheme.