Tricksters move on Green Deal opportunities
Disturbing news has reached us regarding fraudsters taking advantage of the Green Deal Energy Efficiency Scheme to make money out of unsuspecting householders. According to the Citizens Advice Bureau, there have been unsolicited telephone calls and door to door salesman masquerading as Home Assessors, charging up to £500 to confirm whether a household is eligible to borrow money, to install double glazing or insulation or to improve boiler efficiency, as part of this scheme.
Gillian Guy, CEO of Citizens Advice states that, with energy prices up by 33% since 2010, households are looking for ways to save money on their bills and that opportunistic tricksters are lining their pockets by ripping off people who are trying to cut the cost of heating and lighting their home.
It seems that, whenever there is a government initiative aimed at doing good, there’s a con-man somewhere looking to make a profit out of the unsuspecting public.
Thankfully, we haven’t yet heard of an instance of this fraud in Hexham or indeed Northumberland. Whether or not a property has already been the subject of finance under the Green Deal scheme is one of the things Nicholson Portnell check for, when acting in a house purchase transaction, in the course of investigation of title. It’s just one of the developments in conveyancing that solicitors have learned to deal with in recent years
