Highland Trading Standards Service warn of 'free insulation' offers
10th October 2012
Use The Highland Council offer From Carillion.
Trading Standards officers with The Highland Council are warning all residents to be on their guard when answering 'cold-callers' at their home offering 'free home insulation'.
This warning follows reports being received by Trading Standards as a result of a current Highland Council approved Universal Home Insulation Scheme being operated by Carillion Energy Services within the Highland area.
The reports suggest that firms are promising 'free installation' under the UHIS scheme following a survey and that they are working on behalf of The Highland Council when clearly they are not.
The Highland Councils Housing and Property Services are keen to point out that scheme only applies in five Council Wards, Wick, Landward Caithness, Cromarty Firth, Tain & Easter Ross, Aird & Loch Ness and the only contractor is a company called Carillion Energy Services, the employees of which all carry identification and authorisation letters which will be produced.
Energy Advice Officer Karen Maclean said: "All households within the selected Wards have received a letter giving information on the scheme and what to do. The scheme does not currently apply to any other Wards within the Highland Council area and no company other than Carillion Energy Services can do the works under the Highland UHIS scheme. Carillion have been accepted as being competent to carry out the works. We are concerned that others whose competence has not been vetted will carry out works and potentially leave the house damaged with no recourse for the householder. The Highland Council will not be held liable for any costs resulting from non-approved scheme works being carried out."
Highland Trading Standards Team Leader, Mark McGinty, added: "Any business which calls at your door and informs you they are working under a particular scheme when they are not is committing an offence. I would advise all householders to think twice about entering into any contract at home and if in doubt to ask for a copy of the contract to be left to check before deciding to sign."
The Highland Council Trading Standards Service would like to hear from householders who are concerned about cold calls they have received or the practices of salespersons who visit them at home.
Concerned residents can contact The Highland Council's Trading Standards Service by visiting or writing to: Highland Council Trading Standards, 38 Harbour Road, Inverness IV1 1UF or by telephoning Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 08456 04 05 06. Further information on the Universal Home Insulation Scheme can be found at
www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Built-Environment/Housing/warmhomes/uhis
If you live within the five ward areas and would like an appointment to have a Carillion representative go via the link.
Related Businesses
Related Articles
As intimated in Highland Council's budget plan, a new senior management structure is to be implemented following approval by Council 14th March. It reconfigures the senior management team into two layers, rather than three and brings Highland Council into line with other benchmarked authorities.
Today, Morrison Construction introduced some of their local apprentices who are working on the UK Governments' Levelling Up Funded refurbishment project at the Northern Meeting Park in Inverness. All these apprentices have been recruited from the Highland area.
The by-election to elect a councillor to represent Ward 19 - Inverness South on The Highland Council has been won by Duncan Cameron McDonald - Independent who was one of the eight candidates who contested the vacancy. Voters in the ward went to the poll yesterday (Thursday 11 April) and the by-election count was held this morning in The Highland Council Headquarters in Inverness.
The Technology Placement Programme offers funding to businesses in the Highland Council area to cover up to 70% of the cost of employing a student or graduate. The Technology Placement Programme offers funding to businesses in the Highland Council area to cover up to 70% of the cost of employing a student or graduate.
Following the success of its Business Digital Grant scheme launched last year, The Highland Council is delighted to announce further funding. This is to help Highland companies access digital support alongside other business growth support.
The Highland Council is delighted to confirm a highly successful second year for Public Service Obligation (PSO) flights between Wick and Aberdeen. The period from April 2023 to March 2024 has seen a substantial increase in passenger numbers, with several months seeing over 1,000 passengers using the service, and overall the service has seen year on year growth of 25%.
Members of Highland Council, who met on Thursday 14 March 2024, approved a corporate Digital Ambition, which has been designed to deliver significant organisational change across Council services, recognising the current priorities within the organisation. The Strategy, which is embedded within the wider Council Delivery Plan, has been developed to focus attention and resources on areas of change which will deliver the greatest benefit to the Council.
The Council remains committed to supporting mentoring in our schools, including the support that is currently delivered through the MCR Pathways programme. Highland Council is currently undertaking a review of Employability Support provided by a number of different council services and how these relate to the work carried out by external partners and in our schools.
Highland Council members have considered and agreed a revised draft Highland Outcome Improvement Plan. The partnership plan has been reviewed and updated by the Community Planning Partnership.
Members at today's (14 March 2024) meeting of The Highland Council agreed the local authority's new draft Community Wealth Building Strategy. They were also asked to note that a period of public engagement on the draft will now begin, with a final strategy returning to full Council for consideration in September.
