The boiler scrappage scheme was welcomed by consumers and industry alike as a great way to help people improve the efficiency of their heating systems and at the same time stimulate flagging businesses, but the scheme has hit problems.

Recent national newspaper reports have revealed that applicants are waiting to receive their vouchers and the call centres are experiencing a backlog of calls.

The scheme is so structured that only those with a voucher (received after lodging a valid quote from a Gas Safe Registered heating engineer) can have the work started. But the vouchers are reportedly suffering long delays as scheme staff cannot cope with demand.

The voucher is worth £400 and was created to encourage people to swap their old boilers – rated G, X or non-rated – for new A rated boilers which are over 90% efficient as opposed to between 50% and 70% efficient. The scheme is being administered by the Energy Saving Trust.

But such was the enthusiastic response that the call centre had quickly received some 160,000 calls for the limited number of vouchers available: at the moment, 135,000. And some 36,000 applicants had been received.

At least say the reports, the number of call centre staff has been doubled and it is now claimed that people who qualify under the scheme will get their vouchers within ten days.

The chief operating officer at the Energy Savings Trust told the media that they had taken the necessary steps to cope with the demand and that things had been dramatically improved, with only a few days backlog remaining and a return to normality quite soon. This included an automatic email being sent to those who contacted the Energy Savings Trust about the boiler scrappage scheme.

The biggest installer of new gas boilers in the UK is British Gas and they have reported that in the first three weeks of January, they had seen a four-fold increase in the number of people asking for a quote as compared to the same period last year. British Gas offer a further £400 rebate over and above the Government voucher, and also offer other incentives on maintenance schemes, services and fittings.

Observers are now concerned that the Energy Savings Trust will have difficulty in processing the payments in time when vouchers are redeemed. The scheme says that voucher payments will only be made on receipt of a valid voucher and paid Gas Safe Registered engineer’s invoice. Payment should then take place in 25 days and the worry is that this system will suffer the same delays as the start of the process.

Guest Article by Neil Camp

Related posts:

1. Boiler Scrappage Scheme Scrapped
2. Scottish Boiler Scrappage Scheme
3. How To Apply For A New Gas Boiler Under Government Scrappage Scheme
4. npower Grabs Boiler Scrappage Scheme Initiative
5. Boiler Scrappage Scheme Gains Momentum