Hi Paddy

Check out the Green deals (government backed). There are several variations, however, I am aware there was/is one whereby the savings come from your gas bill and the cost is taken from one of your energy bills. Consequently, I think the credit checking is less strenuous in this way, rather than a standard credit agreement with a finance company.

The principle is that you get a system and it should cost you little or more than your current energy bills

Might be worth exploring to see if it is available, possible and suitable for you. The timing, right to cancel time etc. may be an issue for you if yours is not working at all.

Generally it is a condition of all das debt arrangement scheme programmes that further credit is not allowed. However, emergency repairs is one of the exceptions for which it is permissible to take further credit.
The regulations state that you must advise any prospective lender in writing that you are taking part in an approved payment programme under the Debt Arrangement Scheme.

Hi,
We have spoke to our DAS administrator who is seeking permission for us to obtain further credit for these repairs, and we will notify any prospective lenders , the only problem being I think we will struggle to find someone who will lend to us

Hi firewalker,

I looked at the green deal scheme a while back for my own property and one of the questions on the application was if I was currently involved in any debt management plans or arrangements with my creditors. I'm not sure if this was asked because there can be finance associated with the scheme but this would depend on what options you were looking at such as boiler, solar panels or solid wall insulation. It's certainly something to look into.

Like Kevin has advised Paddy99, emergency repairs is something which can be taken into consideration when looking at further credit. The difficult thing as you say will be obtaining credit from a lender given your credit rating will be poor and you will need to make them aware of the DAS. You may find heating companies are able to offer you finance for the new system which might mean you have more of a chance of being accepted rather than walking into a high street bank branch and asking for finance. Shopping around for finance will be the best thing to do but you need to be mindful that too many credit applications could impact on your credit rating ÔÇô although I'm not sure if it could get any worse.

Let us know how you get on.

Hi David

That's helpful to know. I know of someone who is in a Trust Deed and who did receive approval for the boiler. They were told it was a 'soft credit check' which means nothing to me. I thought it may be different since the payment is made through one of the energy companies (even if the boiler does not come from them).

Example I know of:
2nd year of Trust Deed.
Approved Greenheat company (not an energy supplier).
£48 calculated savings based on current use and current boiler.
Cost of boiler and other things that go with it - £42.
Further visit by Assessor to confirm first calculation genuine.
Time to cancel and second Assessor visit and time to cancel again, was 6-8 weeks though (a problem if it is an emergency).

HOWEVER, all that said, I understand exactly what you are saying about taking on credit. I initially thought of it differently because it was energy savings and taking from the energy bill. I actually thought of doing it myself at one point. I know the Greendeals rules change regularly and it may not even suit or apply anyway.

Thanks for clarifying for me.

Hi Firewalker,

I think it's an excellent scheme providing you do your homework and it's suitable for you.

The company we used quoted us in the region of £20,000 for solar panels, loft insulation and external wall insulation. The green deal finance would only cover so much of this and we had to pay £4,000 as a household to make up the difference. We could either pay the £4,000 directly or take out finance with one of their finance providers which I think were Barclays and Hitachi. I think it was because of this that they asked the question regarding debt management plans/arrangements with creditors. We looked at this in June 2014. Even the home rep didn't really know why they asked this question.

We decided not to proceed with the deal as I felt the quote was overpriced and when I spoke with home energy Scotland they said that they didn't think solar panels based on the size of my roof would generate a sufficient amount to give any real benefit/savings even although the company disputed this.

My neighbour received a new central heating system and external wall insulation completely free of charge from her energy supplier. From what she said it was because she was a pensioner and had old storage heating. I know my grandparents received a new boiler last year as well via the scheme but I'm not sure if they received it for free or had to pay for it.

Thank you for all your feedback, fortunately a plumber friend is going to do the work for 1/3 of the cost which means we can scrape the cash together without further credit#128516; This really highlights how important it is to try and put some cash away each month, even a little , for such emergencies , #128516;

Glad to hear that you have managed to get something sorted Paddy99.

It's good advice about trying to put some form of savings by each month. The Accountant in Bankruptcy have issued guidance to say that people should be allowed a provision of 10% of their surplus income up to a maximum of £20 to be put towards contingency savings.

my boiler is 18 years old an needs replacing obviously no credit can be attempted till 3 years after(if I ever get that form 5) but I asked if the repair could be carried out Scottish gas said yes at 150 per month which was carried out still needing boiler replaced as advised again but was worth asking to get it repaired rather than whole system

Thanks maverick267 but our boiler totally 'died' and couldn't be repaired unfortunately

Mine was around 10 years old, and I faced almost similar situation. I couldn't go for credit either, so I tried getting it repaired. Scottish Gas quoted me £130 aprx. , just like your case. It was a temporary fix, but it bought me some time.

I eventually had to replace the boiler, but the emergency boiler repair (admin: hyperlink removed) helped in the short term. I know it's tough dealing with an old system..