Energy Assessors Assess New Challenges
Domestic energy assessors (DEAs) as a collective have felt that they have suffered a number of blows within the market place since the introduction of the EPC requirement. Since the removal of the HIP legislation they have seemingly been dealt further challenges as the market place changes further. Is this about to change?
Many DEAs have left the energy assessment industry with complete disillusionment and losses on their time, effort and monetary investment; some after receiving questionable sales pitches and from training companies which were not achievable in reality. Though the flow of new energy assessors seems to remain. We continue to receive comments on one of our most viewed articles, ‘Should I train as a DEA?’ with questions and thoughts from those who are considering re-training or wish to advise.
We recently wrote about the prospect of ‘Free EPCs’ (within ‘The Future for Energy Assessors’) that was discussed some time ago and was written off quickly by the DEA community as unworkable. However, with 2 of the big accreditation schemes NHER and BRE coming forward and seemingly supporting the concept to their members it had to be afforded some level of respect. The current situation seems unclear whether the accreditation schemes still intend to pursue and support this with many DEAs feeling that the proposal has become tainted.
Whether you are in favour of the ‘Free EPC’ idea or not it seemingly raises the conflict of interest issue once again; certainly the definition of such and how it applies equally to accreditation schemes, individual DEAs, EPC companies and other parties who come into contact with the EPC.
HIP2Go (a widely used HIP platform for DEAs) has recently gone into liquidation leaving many DEAs with thousands of pounds worth of unpaid invoices. We understand that even in cases where HIP2Go had processed payments from the DEA’s client , for e.g. estate agent or individual home seller, the payment the DEA was intended to receive has been left unpaid in some cases. A source told us that a number of official complaints have been lodged with the related professional industry and financial bodies / watchdogs and we await to hear their responses.
Paul M Walker, chairman of IDEA said, “It is clear that many Energy Assessors have not been paid for their EPC element of the HIP they ordered, through HIPS2GO/ Hips Homes Ltd on behalf of their client. On the 17 June IDEA received information that the company were offering to pay 33% of fees owed to individual Energy Assessors. Mr Pett (MD) stated that this method would allow HIPS2GO to carry on trading and enable them to collect monies that they were owed.”
“Energy Assessors have not been paid for the HIP they ordered, through HIPS2GO/Hips Homes Ltd, that the client had taken the deferred payment option. In all cases HIPS2GO have received FULL payment from the vendor, but failed to pass on payments to the Energy Assessor/Home Information Pack Provider and some Search Providers. To date, those creditors that accepted the 33% “Offer” have still not received payment; those that have ordered searches that have not been completed still await their “promised“, refunds from HIPS2GO/HIPHOMES.”
“So where is the money paid to HIPS2GO by the home owners for their HIP/EPC/Deferred payment? Money that by law, must be held in a client account by Hips Homes Ltd/HIPS2GO to pay for services.”
The professionals within the industry are constantly trying to promote quality, the benefits of the EPC and enhance the image of the energy performance certificate. This is often a struggle for Energy Assessors (DEAs) when competition is often volume based with little concern over the quality of the provision.
A new website selling EPCs has recently appeared on our radar and is causing a level of concern towards their business model. The basic business concept is:
- the EPC is sold at rock bottom prices to the end consumer the home seller or landlord online
- the online EPC provider then contacts as many local DEAs as possible and asks them to bid against each other.
- The cheapest DEA wins the instruction and is given details of the client
- The DEA completes the instruction and uploads the EPC with their invoice.
Crystal Power, Director of Power Energy Assessors Ltd recently told us, “As a domestic energy assessor, I have been inundated with “offers of work” from this panel. I have sent them 5 emails asking them to stop sending me these offers, as they do not have an unsubscribe option on their emails, but to no avail. Phone calls to their offices have also not stopped the constant barrage of emails.”
“From talking to other energy assessors, I am not alone. I have recorded some 200 unsolicited emails from just a handful of other assessors and upon investigation, the ”bidding” for the work is around the £15.00 mark! What worries me is that this panel are doing nothing to help the decline in fees in our industry and customers cannot be receiving a decent standard of service, or an accurate EPC. Panels like this are not helping themselves, their clients or the industry by taking this approach and yet again, it will be the energy assessors left to pick up the pieces once these panels go into administration”
Due to the downward mechanism of the bidding process, the cheapest DEA will win the instruction. As we all know cheapest is not always the best of option, and this process is not advertised to those considering buying an EPC Certificate. Winning bid fee levels we have witnessed are equivalent to approximately half minimum wage if calculations are made using typical times required for each EPC assessment and certification. If this is coupled with concerns that payment might not be received from the company, it doesn’t seem a particluarly attractive prospect to us.
Related posts:
- FOI act application re: Domestic Energy Assessors (DEA) numbers
- Where Now for Energy Assessors and the Industry?
- CLG assess cheap EPC providers and accreditation schemes
- Training as a property professional – energy assessors express outrage
- Daily Express acknowledge oversupply of energy assessors
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July 26th, 2010 at 12:45 pm
As a DEA of 3 years, I fully agree with everything you’ve said but feel pretty helpless to do much about it unless we can get some kind of regulation. In a free market, the auction model for cheap EPCs we’ve all seen is a very clever business model for the company running it – where we have a business with too many trained DEAs competing for business, there are always going to be enough of them willing to pick up work for peanuts. This is just how markets work – when the number of working DEAs reduce to a level whereby there is more work than people to do it, prices can incease to a more realistic level. Will that ever happen? Who knows. Just consider what you would do as a client with a little knowledge – take a £99 EPC from your estate agent or a £30 one from the internet? Specially as most people I still talk to don’t see much point in them – “nobody ever looks at them”, etc.
Perhaps what we should be doing in the industry is trying to find more practical uses for the EPC and persuading the government to act accordingly. I fully agree with most of my vendor clients when they ask what the point of the EPC is as nobody looks at them. When will the EPC profile be raised by it having some kind of value – maybe the value could be through improvement linked to Council Tax, etc?
July 26th, 2010 at 1:14 pm
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July 26th, 2010 at 1:36 pm
Market forces are at play in the energy assessor industry as in virtually every other sector of business. Newly qualified assessors having completed their “two week” training course are left ill equipped to actually start running a business. Having been spoon-fed work by the HIP providers it can be of no surprise that the work has dried up if assessors undertake no advertising, marketing, cold calling or networking to gain instructions.
Fully qualified chartered surveyors were receiving £40.00 fees for mortgage valuations prior to the credit crunch and yet we do not see these professionals taking such a down beat stance on their industry. The “bidding” model adopted by the company referred to is a perfectly acceptable way to allocate instructions and there are undoubtedly assessors that are earning reasonable amounts per EPC. If you receive an email inviting you to bid on a EPC, then you would well advised to remember that this “job offer” has effectively come for FREE with no overheads incurred for generating the work. The level of distress this seems to be causing assessors is surely disproportionate and can only be attributed to feelings of resentment over not having thought of the idea first.
July 26th, 2010 at 2:19 pm
@ Chris Grant.
..would be well advised to accept this ‘job offer’ (which I would use very loosely).
Are you really saying you would trust a company who wont divulge their address and uses copied T&Cs from a completely unrelated business.
I would suprised to hear any CS carrying out instructions at the fees you quote.
Be interested to know what fee level you think DEAs are warranted?
July 26th, 2010 at 9:01 pm
I’ve been practising for 4 months, and I’ve been lucky enough to find an Estate agent and a lettings company to add to the panel income I receive.THe market seems like the Wild West to me with the ‘Barons’ who have coralled large nos. of customers and DEAs into their domain , and making it very difficult to make a good living out of the fees on offer. Then there are the ‘cowboys’ producing drive by epcs, or DEAs who don’t properly inspect a premises.
And how will the public be persuaded to take the epc seriously when large nos. of Estate Agents only show the chart, and with hold the Certificate details, even from the people who pay for them !
If the govt. is serious about energy conservation they need to step in now and place responsibilty on the key gate keepers out there, before all the decent DEAs trying to do the right thing move on to other areas of the energy business, or leave altogether. THe experience of the HIPs sudden withdrawal doesn’t give you the confidence to invest too much money in future training. And why are training cos. still allowed to sell an ‘opportunity that isn’t there ? It’s obscene !
July 26th, 2010 at 11:19 pm
We DEAs have been badly let down by Government, both Central and Local and the ‘professionals. There has been no promotion or explanation of of EPCs to the buying or renting public, Trading Standards are not enforcing, Estate Agents (and, as I am moving at present and so are viewing properties, I have direct experience) are totally dismissive of the EPC and seem quite taken back when I ask to see it. I’m not sure whether the EPC ‘graph’ should be shown in the property particulars (perhaps someone can clarify this?) but around half of the Agents do not show it.
We need Government intervention and promotion of the EPC. How about the DHSS not providing housing benefit until they have seen the EPC for the property being occupied by the claimant? After all the Benefit is ‘our’ money, taken by way of taxation and it would be innovative to see it being put to good use by encouraging energy efficiency. How about linking energy efficiency to the rateable value of the property, as already suggested?
Most of the EPCs I do are for Landlords and, with the hundreds I’ve now done, I’m gradually putting myself out of business because they last 10 years – no return visits envisaged – even if Landlords bother to implement improvements – why should they – the Tenants don’t care anyway and never ask to see the EPC.
I’ve ABSOLUTELY refused to answer the email ‘bid invitations’ – they go straight into the bin!
July 27th, 2010 at 11:21 am
(Company name removed – for now!!) according to HI web site do not pay up. I just delete them – never worked for any panels for the past 18 months as many are con merchants. One succeeds with sticking to local est agents and lettings. Commercials done through a franchise but I know the owner personally. This is not a full time job, indeed I would never adise anyone to leave their full time job for this. I am fortunate to have a generous pension to fall back on. Many in this do not. Which allows me a greater degree of weeding out the chaff approaches by panels etc. I get many personal recommendations and always ask what the others are charging – some still £95 in my area – makes you laugh. Advertise and go direct to the vendors. I have done some for landlords unsatisfied with readings on their last epc and find obvious errors by other DEA’s. One report I had deleted via BRE as the individual had missed off the extension and room in roof measurements. I am just purchasing a house for a relative and again going around the house with the epc certificate – I have already found 4 errors – what hope therefore when some vendors in the future may rely on this to obtain grants and money off council tax and god forbid – stamp duty.
July 27th, 2010 at 11:36 am
Not sure that Chris Grant fully understands the ‘auction bidding system’ that is being discussed.
The company are advetising EPC’s for £39.00 vat free to clients.
When contacted they then post out ‘invitations’ to DEA’s to bid for the work. It is quite obvious that if a DEA quotes a fee above £25.00 they will not get the work as there are plenty out there who will quote lower. Theses are the “cowboys” mentioned in other replies, the drive by merchants, if indeed they even bother to do that and don’t use Google Earth Street to produce some of the photographs required. The other photo’s coming from “stock”.
Make your own judgement as to how relevant the produced EPC is. NOT.
CLG has demanded that the accreditation bodies, who have a huge responsuiblity in this area, beef up their auditing processes and procedures. Even with the ‘new’ requirements in place it will take a very long time before these scam merchants ( and that is what it is) are removed.Meanwhile those in the profession who are carrying out the requirements diligently and responsibly are being castigated for wanting a fee rate that is commensurate with the time and effort involved.
For too long the accreditation schemes have only been interested in the number of lodgements from which they derive a large proportion of their income.They have not been at all focussed on the quality of the reports submitted.
It is they who should be held to account not independant DEA’s who for the most part only want to do a good job and earn a reasonable fee, even if not the ‘heady’ sums flouted, again by most accreditation schemes, when they first took up the training to be a DEA.
July 27th, 2010 at 12:58 pm
There are many issues raised here, and I feel as an Accreditation Scheme it is only fair I try to debate some of them.
With regard to “panels”, it is a free market, and therefore if one individual wants to provide a service for half the rate that you would consider appropriate – then thats just your opinion. It may not seem fair, but that is capitalism for you! The more important point is how to ensure that the quality of these EPCs is not negatively affected by a reduction in fees charged. Of course we all know it is.
I will mention two things I believe are important, firstly the training of DEAs needs to improve. The quality of the qualification is regulated by ABBE, yet the quality of the actual training is not. As an accreditation scheme we witness numerous assessors that are qualified, yet need a huge amount of support to bring them up to standard. There needs to be far more compliance with training centre standards, than the current zero. More importantly, CPD needs to be taken seriously by existing DEAs, and not left to the night before accreditation renewal. This is a swift moving industry, and we feel DEAs are incredibly remiss about not keeping up to date. I am being critical, but far better that than stating false promises of higher fees for more numerous jobs. As any engineer will tell you, the better the quality of the input, the better the quality of the output.
Secondly, the quality of EPCs is paramount. If this is brought to an appropriate minimum standard, then the industry would benefit massively. But it is not, the reason is because the Accreditation Schemes are not doing their job. This could be due to unclear CLG guidance, but more likely due to commercial reasons. Quidos do take QA seriously, and in fact many DEAs do not join our scheme for fear of actually being audited. There are scenarios of DEAs leaving Quidos through suspension because of poor quality standards, only to be accredited the next week by alternative schemes. There is still no process in place to prevent this.
So, the conclusion is better quality will lead to a better product, which in turn will lead to increased consumer confidence in the product, and finally lead to demand for the product. I am opposed to the “supply push” argument where we increase demand by introducing regulation (e.g. linked to Council Tax), and believe that the “demand pull” is far better, where the product is actually a useful one. To do this, we need to improve the content of the EPC as well as the quality of it – perhaps another day?
July 27th, 2010 at 5:19 pm
Philip you make some interesting points and I would agree that raising standards is the key.
If it is true that inconsistency is not only found within DEAs but those who monitor them, what is the solution – an external independant body specifically designed to monitor? Is this not the role for CLG?
At present it can easily appear low quality and high volume leads to commercial sustainability for EPC panels. With enforcement of quality and increased consumer interest this would be unlikely to remain true.
I feel the accreditation scehmes are key to such changes, though it needs a desire from all.
July 27th, 2010 at 5:38 pm
Philip Salaman writes,
“The more important point is how to ensure that the quality of these EPCs is not negatively affected by a reduction in fees charged. Of course we all know it is.”
“Secondly, the quality of EPCs is paramount. If this is brought to an appropriate minimum standard, then the industry would benefit massively. But it is not, the reason is because the Accreditation Schemes are not doing their job”
These are exactly the points I was making in my response.
It is nice to know that at least one Accreditation Scheme is prepared to admit the failings and is trying to do something about it.
“This could be due to unclear CLG guidance, but more likely due to commercial reasons.”
Of course it is for commercial reasons – lets get as many DEA’s lodging their report through us, we don’t need to check the reports as nobody is checking that we do.
“There are scenarios of DEAs leaving Quidos through suspension because of poor quality standards, only to be accredited the next week by alternative schemes. There is still no process in place to prevent this.”
The process to prevent this IS in place as accreditation bodies are supposed to inform others when a DEA is suspended from a particular scheme, but who is checking that this works?
“So, the conclusion is better quality will lead to a better product, which in turn will lead to increased consumer confidence in the product, and finally lead to demand for the product.”
“To do this, we need to improve the content of the EPC as well as the quality of it – perhaps another day?”
I agree wholeheartedly
July 28th, 2010 at 9:37 am
Am afraid, it is all well and good what you are saying but no-one cares. I have been qualified for 12mths now and i will be getting my money back and looking for a real profession.
The CLG dont care, schemes dont care, DEAs dont care so why should public care?
I agree with Chris Grant that this is merely another business, one where profit is very small. So, everyone would be well advised to get as much income in as possible and dare i say it but sacrificing a little on each job’s fee and standard. Yes, you will not be as accurate some but is that so important when no-one cares.
July 28th, 2010 at 11:41 am
Until the accreditation schemes can financially support focusing on quality we will continue to see the likes of NHER and BRE trying to add to the coffers. They were the trail blazers but unfortunately they have forgotten about quality and gone for income and volume. Sound familiar?
July 28th, 2010 at 2:30 pm
Mike Compton writes: “The process {AS advising one another of suspension} to prevent this IS in place as accreditation bodies are supposed to inform others when a DEA is suspended from a particular scheme, but who is checking that this works?”
Regretably this is NOT happening. Quidos had until recently advertised to other schemes of all suspensions, however since we were the only one to do so (at least one scheme had taken legal advice not to share this information), we have recently stopped this. Also, other schemes were simply contacting those we had suspended and offering them accreditation.
With the new QA regime we have started suspending more DEAs, and instead of improving their own quality they are simply joining alternative schemes.
The CLG are supposed to be auditing schemes, and we are hopeful this will begin soon.
There are some solutions to this, a blanket QA “tax” on all lodgements. This would not affect anyone (other than the building owner paying slightly more) since it would be applied across the board. Yes, you would see a higher rate of fraudulent certificates, but with the extra QA it could be quickly stamped out.
July 29th, 2010 at 8:08 am
Like others I was happy at first to be asked to bid for extra work in my area. I became suspicious of this site when receiving an e-mail to bid with 23hrs 39mins left, I thought as no one had bided I could start at a reasonable level and put a bid in for £39 as this is what they advertise to clients “price start from £39”, only to be told that another DEA had bided lower at £38 strange that another DEA had bided just at that time so I re-bided £37 (Note for those of you who don’t know this site you can only bid once then you have to wait till your figure is to high) only to be told that another DEA has bid lower again at £36 now math’s are my subject that means this site is telling me that 3 DEA’s were at that time bidding for this property (1 who had the lowest bid, myself who was trying to bid lower and another who had bid under me, remember when I started there were no bids) this bid process took about 20 seconds from start to finish. I don’t want to accuse this site of cheating by causing individual DEA’s to bid against themselves (till they have reached a level that the company wants to pay) but it does look that way. I would advise anyone who gets an opportunity to make the first bid to check this out don’t take my word for this but I won’t be using this site again.
July 29th, 2010 at 7:14 pm
Why not do as I have,
get to be the lowest bid then let them down by not following the lead through. Although this is wrong it gives the company a bad name. If everyone done this the company would be nolonger.
July 29th, 2010 at 9:33 pm
I have gone along the same route as Mike Jones. The Express EPC first cold called with an email from Savi – an on line EA registered at the same address and appeared to offer reasonable fees for additional work to produce a listing, i.e. internal and external photos and room / property details. The home owner could fill these in while I did the photos and EPC work. In reality most of their business appears to be plain EPC with no extras. At frst the max possible bid was £40 and the minimum £20 but this has now been reduced to £15. I have bid for only the most local properties too reduce travel time and cost and entered £35. Invariably I am underbid by rivals within a few hours. I have done one job following a phone call from Express EPC where the winning bidder had ‘gone sick’ and they agreed to pay my bid price. Their terms give them 30 days to pay the invoice and I have yet to receive payment. Telephone call to advertised number produced a polite assurance but still no payment.
This matter surfaced on another forum and one member claims to have ‘won’ the auction and then uploaded an abusive message instead of the EPC; unprofessional but I understand his feelings.
July 30th, 2010 at 3:41 pm
I can understand DEAs uploading abusive messages in place of an EPC when Express abuse the over supply of energy assessors, but it is unlikely to stop the company winning business. As far as I can see, they get orders directly from home owners by offering the cheapest price, rather than by securing ongoing work from estate agents. Unless there is a way of letting those home owners know about the company, they will continue to order.
The only hope is that enough of their clients complain to Trading Standards so they get shut down. It might also be worth someone examining their VAT status.
August 2nd, 2010 at 11:47 pm
I seems to me that when one does the maths that they would have an obligation to be collecting VAT for HMRC. i have had the “opportunity” to compile 4 EPCs over this last month and the invoice numbers have a difference of 703. if you multiply that by the advertised ‘from’ cost it is around £28k, easily over the collection threshold.
They seem to be making a good deal of money from running a £100 ? per month website of £10k+ even taking into account the Google listing. So good going… I suppose, like others, i will wait with baited breath for my 30 days to tick by and see if they will give me my meagre payouts.
Perhaps, Philip, the accreditation bodies could take a bit more of an active role in establishing their presence on the web to occupy the top slots (sponsored or not)and see if a little more professionalism can be injected into an industry on it’s last legs.
August 3rd, 2010 at 10:30 am
Having reading all the comments from other assessor’s, I feel that I have fell into the trap of re-training for this industry. After being made redundant and having only a few working years left,unable to find a job after 12 months,and having been involved in the building industry for all my working life I felt DEA would be a good for me and be in a position to use all my knowledge taken in over the years. I too have been E Mailed to bid on this site and although I want to work I refuse to work for the silly £15 fee,s. I only want to do the job properly and professionally and find it unbelieveable that persons can lower the standards in this way.
August 9th, 2010 at 10:00 am
Look at the facts and decide if you want to work for this company.
Q.Do they reply to emails? A. No
Q. Can you speak to the accounts Dept? A. No
Q. Do they pay within 30 days? A. No ( im at 67 days)
Q. Who are they really..Hipserve, Hip-save, Express-EPC? A. All and none.
Q Where is their main office? A. Well its not at the forwarding address in Gloucester Rd
Be very careful before undertaking work, you may get paid and then again.
August 12th, 2010 at 9:33 am
Facts continued….
Q. What is the name of your MD or Chairman? A. We are not allowed to tell you.
Q. Where is your office based? A. Not allowed to tell you.
Q. What is your managers direct telephone number? A. We dont have one.
Q. How do you contact them? A. By email?
Q. I guess im not the only DEA who is chasing money? A. Oh no there are lots!
IF THIS LOT DONT END UP ON WATCHDOG I WILL EAT MY HAT
August 12th, 2010 at 10:01 am
Hi Tim,
We are hearing more disturbing things as time goes by. However, the public seem to be seeing this offer as too good to miss out on, when it is possibly too good to be true.
We have alerted the accreditation schemes to this and on this occaision only 2 have responded. To date, Philip Salaman of Quidos has been very supportive and open in his thoughts and the one other scheme were happy to enter in to private discussions with me but have not been keen to share their views in public so far.
It does seem as if this is something the ‘powers that be’ should investigate. Hopefully, this will be done a bit quicker than the Property Professionals issue which we highlighted with others but little action was actually taken before it was too late for many.
August 13th, 2010 at 2:12 pm
I have spoken to Stroma and asked them to look into them.
I have received one of my 5 outstanding payments (after 65 days) , unfortunately it isnt one of the oldest ones! The accounts dept at Express-EPC must operate out of a pub.
I had an email from HIP-save saying that the payment was being made, a week later when it arrived it was from Hipserve.
As you say the public continue to book with them as they look professional and dea’s still bid as low as £18. I have taken a part time job toutside of the industry to try and keep some money coming and wont ever work for this organisation again.
August 17th, 2010 at 9:00 am
carolhawthorn.blogspot.com/2010/08/express-epc-i-havent-been-paid.html
Monday, 16 August 2010
Express-EPC I haven’t been paid!
I noticed today that Express-EPC have dropped their price for an EPC from £39.95 to £29.95. Does no-one ever question how they can run a call centre, accounts department and get domestic energy assessors to do the work for such a low price? I don’t suppose clients give it a second thought. They don’t seem to mind having to pay up front, with no guarantee they’ll get their EPC at the end of it – if the process goes wrong with Express-EPC then they may have to find another assessor to do the work.
The reason Express-EPC are so cheap is that they set up a bid for each job, whoever puts in the lowest bid gets the job. The bid can be anything from £1 to the price Express-EPC advertise on their site; this guarantees them a margin every time. OK that’s not great for assessors, but clients are probably happy so long as the job is done quickly and they get an EPC.
However, Express-EPC are bad payers! They say that they will settle the account for domestic energy assessors in 30 days. Not true, I now have 6 invoices outstanding for the period 23 June to 12 July and not one has been paid. They actually responded to my chasing of payment by sending emails stating that 3 invoices had been paid. Not true, I’ve not received a penny.
I’m probably not alone in this experience; they are likely to be other assessors who have not been paid. I hope they are not taking on any more work from Express-EPC.
Be warned!
And to all those people out there needing an EPC for sale or rent of a house or flat; cut out the middle man and go direct to your local Domestic Energy Assessor, an accredited professional giving you a fair price.
August 17th, 2010 at 5:16 pm
As Tim says, use a direct local DEA. It really is becoming a struggle telling home owners and landlords that £30 is not the going rate for EPCs. What express epcs have done and i must say others who advertise on the net they have ruined any credibility in the EPC. I know a DEA, who by the way has a fulltime job, who admits to working for £25. His attitude is it pays for a few pints on a Friday night. Express have seen the collapse of any value in the EPC and are laughing all the way to the bank.
August 19th, 2010 at 10:09 pm
Hopefully Exress-EPC are using the offices that Hipserve / Hip-save were using…19 White Horse St, Baldock, SG766B
August 21st, 2010 at 11:16 am
PCCB suspends registration of HIP provider
12 March 2010 | By Natalie Martin
.The Property Codes Compliance Board has suspended the registration of HIP code subscriber HIP-Save Ltd and HIPserve (UK) after it persistently failed to meet the board’s compliance requirements and thereby comply with PCCB’s registration rules.
The Baldock based company, formerly based in London, was inspected in 2009 against the requirements of the HIP Code and although it responded satisfactorily to many of the PCCB’s recommendations, it failed to satisfactorily comply with all the associated actions within specified deadlines.
The PCCB Compliance Committee therefore imposed a suspension sanction as provided for under PCCB Rules.
August 22nd, 2010 at 8:52 am
I have had the same problems as others with payments from Express-EPC. I would highly recommend that anyone owed money by Express-EPC bill the customers directly – that will stop the nonsense. In the meantime this DEA job is a waste of time, and gets worse as time goes on. Companies like Express-EPC have no obligations, no morals, don’t have an address, don’t pay suppliers, have no managing director and are in general immune from any scrutiny.
August 23rd, 2010 at 1:13 pm
Their telephone number 02030312743 no longer gives access to them. If you have any problems you email them…LOL
August 23rd, 2010 at 1:38 pm
We have tried to confirm a few details this morning on their sales line and got the same message.
August 23rd, 2010 at 3:11 pm
May just be temporary but they’re not running any paid Google ads right now, which is unusual.
August 23rd, 2010 at 9:08 pm
Had an interesting conversation with a DEA this afternoon. He confirmed that Hip-SAVE and Hipserve were using the offices above the Baldock Putterills. Express-EP are now using the office space. This branch of Putterills is not now connected to the others as Mr Whacott either bought it and is using the name or operating as a franchise.
It would appear that Express maybe winding up and Mr Whatcott is putting all his efforts into a company called Savi, Hermitage rd, Hitchin. His shop opened 2 weeks ago and Andrew ( you may have spoke to him with one of the previous companies) is operating the office there.
The DEA i spoke to is still owed £300 from Hip-save so i guess its pretty likely that most of us will end up getting done over by Mr Whatcott.
August 23rd, 2010 at 10:26 pm
I imagine if you went to creditgate.com you could type in Savi.co.uk and it would give the companies registered office address which may also be the directors address if he registered the company in advance as he is always 2 steps ahead of the rest of us…Anywhere near Hitchin?
August 24th, 2010 at 10:30 am
Google ads are now running again – looks like they’ve not rolled over yet.
August 24th, 2010 at 12:44 pm
Have read on another forum that NHER are allowing their DEA’s to cancel certificates commisioned by Express-EPC.
My suggestion to one and all is email your accreditation schemes and make the same request.
Well done NHER!
August 24th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
Thanks for your update Tim. It will be interesting to see if other accreditations schemes follow suit
August 24th, 2010 at 5:20 pm
Stroma Say Yes.
We have to contact them and they will cancel the ePC and remove it from the register..Well done Stroma.
Then we have to contact the customer…i will probably contact the property owner too to make sure they are aware they have an invalid certificate
August 24th, 2010 at 5:30 pm
I have had an email from an assessor who says that Elmhurst are not willing to cancel and EPC due to non payment. It does raise the issue once again in regard to EPC panels; who owns the EPC? the EPC provider or the DEA who lodges it?
August 24th, 2010 at 8:53 pm
Who owns the EPC? Well as no money has been exchanged i think you will find its mine…I paid for it, i drove to the property, i spent 45 minutes measuring etc. If Express-EPC want to buy it from me they have 44 hrs to do so.
August 26th, 2010 at 12:20 pm
I saw on another forum that Elmhurst will now cancel EPC’s but at a last resort and for the DEA to be aware that they may find action them in the worst case scenario? From the HO? not likely as he had a contract with the panel? With the panel(express-epc) unlikely as they arent paying the DEA’s and at this rate will be conducting business at The pleasure of Her Majesty. The only one at fault her is Express-EPC.
August 26th, 2010 at 10:06 pm
Just had an email from another DEA, they have been paid for their outstanding payment, How did they do it?
They threatened Express-EPC with Police action!
August 27th, 2010 at 11:35 am
I am owed for 3 invoices from Express-Epc
After being told over 2 weeks ago that they will be prioritised…..still nothing.
How did the lucky person who has been paid threaten them with police action verbally or via email because I am having no luck with either of these 2 options.Has any one wrote or visited them at the address?
I would rather go hungry than take any more work from these cowboys.
August 27th, 2010 at 5:38 pm
It was by email Sally.
I dont know how you will get through to this company. I emailed them over 20 times, i rang them 7 times, i sent a letter by recorded delivery and never received an answer. Yesterday i cancelled 4 certificates, i informed Express_EPC and also the home owners.
This company is the most unprofessional i have ever dealt with in my working career. They actually had quite a good format ( not that i agree with it) but when they failed to pay the brought all the pressure on themselves. And the more you look and read on the net, the more they look like a bunch of crooks.
August 27th, 2010 at 8:28 pm
Posted on another forum…..
IDEA has a thread that “lists” non paying companies. It gives names of directors and their staff. and if appropriate their MO. It also mentions any links/ interests with/to other companies. IDEA has subscribed to have automatic updates, from Company House/CreditGate etc on suspect companies that may be going under/change of ownership. IDEA receives automatic notification on directors that the institute has “targeted”, such as the issue of CCJs against them. (A Mr W has 11 CCJs).
Despite the expense and effort IDEA go to, some of our members do not check the thread out or ignore its warnings. How many times have I heard members say “Oh I wished I had checked the forum first”? Many times!
I am aware of some IDEA members that have carried out EPCs for Express and remain unpaid. These very few were also stung by HIPSWERVE run by the same MD as is running Express!
So stop feeding the “monsters” paying such low fees.
Do your homework BEFORE working with any company. Check the internet, ask around.
August 31st, 2010 at 11:36 am
I am a member of the public who seems to have been fleeced by this outfit….
no contact for over 3 days on an EPC…..
any ideas on the latest telephone number/address?
Having read all of this I am getting onto trading standards
August 31st, 2010 at 4:01 pm
Oh dear, Looks like I’m another idiot desperate for EPC work that has four invoices just on 30days and looking very unlikely to be paid. I have already been done by a previous cowboy last year called 1stforhips.com Is there anybody left in this industry that is honest? Estate Agents, Solicitors we only need car salesmen and we’ve hit the jackpot. Stuff the conservatives, panels and all the other bottom feeders I hope they get there’s. It’s back to “dog eat dog” what’s the world coming to?
August 31st, 2010 at 5:20 pm
Ref Carl…I havent been paid for work on June 7th so you are in the line, just a little way back
September 4th, 2010 at 2:20 pm
It would appear that The Property Ombudsman are taking action against Express-EPC to remove The Office of Fair Trading and TPO from their site due to the backlash of complaints. Sep 3rd/2010
September 7th, 2010 at 1:29 pm
I am owed £200 by Express-EPC and I owe Elmhurst the lodgement fees. I see that Elmhurst will not cancel these EPCs, that is typical of a an accreditation scheme that is only interested in milking Energy Assessors. With so many assessors why do Elmhurst still hold DEA training courses?
Unethical in my view.
As for Express-EPC I am taking action through the County Court.