Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

3. Ms R complains on behalf of Mrs A about the DESNZ. She complains about poor administration, communication and being given conflicting advice while applying for GHGV for a number of home improvements, the most important being replacement windows.

4. Ms R says they followed all requests by getting quotes from registered installers they got from the DESNZ website, but each time they were told the installer was not approved. Ms R says they sent over 140 emails and 17 quotes and each time there was always another hurdle put in their way meaning the applications were rejected.

5. Ms R says that Mrs A is disabled and only gets disability benefits so without the grant she will never be able to afford new windows. She says the grant was a lifeline to her having a safe, secure and warm home. Ms R says Mrs A has become depressed at the thought of another winter where she can only just afford to heat her home. She says there are cracks, holes and damage to all the windows due to the age of the property.

6. Mrs A wants a financial payment so the windows can be replaced. She also wants DESNZ to accept its failings and apologise.

7. The GHGV scheme was launched by the government on 30 September 2020. It was introduced to help homeowners and landlords with the cost of installing energy efficient home improvements. The scheme closed to new applications on 31 March 2021. It set a deadline of 31 August 2021 for making changes to applications. The final closure date for the scheme was 30 November 2021. When the scheme was launched, applications were considered by the scheme administrator.

8. The scheme administrator first began its consideration of Mrs A’s GHGV application on 2 December 2020. On 15 December it is noted that there is no primary measure quote and the secondary measure quote is for both windows and doors which did not include enough information.

9. On 16 January 2021 the scheme administrator received a duplicate application, this did not include a primary measure quote.

10. On 15 February the scheme administrator told Mrs A that it still needed a primary measure quote to be provided and also for a secondary measure quote which only included one measure, windows or doors, not both.

11. On 10 March they again asked for a primary measure quote to be sent and for one of the applications to be cancelled. On 15 March Ms R told the scheme administrator which application to cancel and said she would be sending a primary measure quote.

12. On 8 July the duplicate application was cancelled but a primary measure quote had not been received. The scheme administrator reviewed the application on 23 August. It found the primary measure quote was still missing and the installer for the windows was not registered so was not eligible to install the measures.

13. On 9 September the scheme administrator rejected the application and the 14-day appeals window started.

14. On 27 October, the primary measure quote for loft insulation was received. The application had already been rejected and the quote was for an incorrect primary measure.

15. Ms R appealed the decision on 26 and 29 November. This was rejected by the scheme administrator because it was significantly past the deadline for appeals.

16. On 27 January 2022 Ms R complained to DESNZ and it sent its final response on 8 June.

19. Before we decide if we should do a detailed investigation of a complaint, we look at whether there are signs the organisation got something wrong. We do this by comparing what should have happened with what did happen. We have done this and have not seen any signs that something has gone wrong.

20. Ms R complains about the GHGV scheme and that all quotes were rejected. She says this is despite her following DESNZ’s instructions and advice. Ms R says she provided 17 quotes for windows, doors, external wall insulation and loft insulation, but all were rejected.

21. When applying to GHGV scheme, applicants could apply for a single primary measure and a single secondary measure on one application. In its complaint response DESNZ says Ms R, ‘initially had 2 GHGV scheme applications. There was no quote provided for primary measure External Solid Wall Insulation (ESWI) on either application. Applications which are missing a primary measure quote, cannot be progressed. The quotes provided for secondary measure Double/Triple Glazing also included doors. Energy Efficient Replacement Doors (EERD) were a separate measure. These quotes were also deemed ineligible as the installer was not Trustmark registered’.

22. We looked at the relevant guidance for the scheme. The GHGV customer terms and conditions says:

‘Installation of eligible measures

22. A key requirement of the Scheme is that the installer you use and contract to supply and install the Eligible Measure covered by the Voucher is an installer who is “Registered” for the purposes of the Scheme in relation to that type of Eligible Measure. Amongst other matters, this will mean that:-

• the installer is required under the Installer Terms and Conditions to be registered under the government’s “Trustmark” scheme and to comply with other certification standards when carrying out installation work for you’.

23. In Annex B of the terms and conditions, it explains the eligible measures. It says:

‘Primary measures…

63. The Voucher must be applied for and used in respect of at least one of the “Primary Measures” listed below. This could be an insulation measure and/or a low carbon heating measure.

64. Insulation measures (“Insulation Primary Measures”) that can be covered by the Vouchers are as follows:

• solid wall – external or internal • cavity wall • under floor • loft • room in roof • flat roof • pitched roof • insulating a park home…

Secondary measures

A Customer who has applied for a Voucher for one or more Primary Measures may also apply for a Voucher to help cover the Eligible Costs of any of the following “Secondary Measures”:

• draught proofing • double/triple glazing (where replacing single glazed windows) • secondary glazing (in addition to single glazing) • external energy efficient doors (replacing single glazed or solid doors installed before 2002) • heating controls (e.g. appliance thermostats, smart heating controls, zone controls, delayed start thermostat, thermostatic radiator valves) • hot water tank thermostat • hot water tank insulation

A Voucher for Secondary Measures will only cover the costs of the Secondary Measures where a Voucher has been redeemed for Primary Measures, and in an amount no greater than the total payment made under Vouchers in respect of Primary Measures at the relevant property’.

24. Ms R told us that when she first looked into the GHGV scheme for Mrs A, it was detailed on DESNZ’s website that double glazed windows were a primary measure. From the evidence we have seen, we cannot agree that this is the case. This is because the terms and conditions quoted above are from when the scheme was first launched in September 2020 and they clearly say that double glazed windows are a secondary measure. The guidelines have not changed.

25. Although Ms R told us that she sent 17 quotes to DESNZ, its records show that it received three quotes for windows and doors from three different companies. DESNZ told us that all three companies have never been registered with Trustmark and so all were ineligible quotes. On 27 October 2021 it got another quote for loft insulation, but, this was not the primary measure that had been applied for. This quote was also provided after the application had been rejected and it was past the date when changes could be made, so it could not be accepted.

26. Ms R gave us a copy of a quote she got for cavity wall insulation dated 9 June 2021 from a company who is Trustmark registered. But, DESNZ told us it has no record of receiving this quote. We can also see from the records it has showed us that there is no mention of this quote having been received.

27. From the evidence we have seen there are no signs that DESNZ did anything wrong. When the application was made, a quote for the primary measure of external solid wall insulation was not provided, so the application could not be approved. DESNZ asked for this quote many times but it has no record of receiving the information. We accept that Ms R gave us a copy of a quote for this measure but DESNZ says it did not receive it. We cannot comment on this further because there is not enough evidence for us to reach a decision on whether this quote was provided at the time or if it was received.

28. Our Principles says organisations should, ‘act according to their statutory powers and duties and any other rules governing the service they provide. They should follow their own policy and procedural guidance, whether published or internal’. We are satisfied that DESNZ acted in line with this principle as it considered Ms R’s application in line with its published terms and conditions.

29. We are sorry to hear how these matters affected Mrs A and we recognise this will continue to affect her due to the damage to her property and its age. Ms R told us that since her application, she has been able to have a new boiler fitted to Mrs A’s home and cavity wall insulation has also been installed. We hope these improvements lessen some of the concerns they have.

1. We have carefully considered Ms R’s complaint about Department for Energy, Security and Net Zero (DESNZ). We have seen no sign that anything went wrong.

2. We found that DESNZ acted in line with its guidance. It could not issue Mrs A with a Green Homes Grant Voucher (GHGV) as the application did not meet its published terms and conditions. We are sorry to hear about the difficulties Mrs A had and the effect these had on her health.