Public Money, Shareholder Gain, and Homeowner Pain
How ECO4 Destroyed Our Home and the System Failed us
We live in a 200-hundred-year-old rural cottage in North East Fife, which we renovated from a near-derelict condition 38 years ago. Every part of our cottage has a story to tell. It is everything we have worked for and a place of comfort, pride, and joy. We relied on our wood fire and multi fuel Rayburn, which provided abundant hot water, and heated 4 radiators to half of our home, the other half was heated with expensive electric radiators. Now that we are older, we had been researching heating systems online for something less work, more efficient and cost effective and hopefully more green.
In June 2024, we completed a small, generic, fun quiz on Facebook about rural home owners without gas central heating. At this point we had never heard of ECO4. We did not ‘apply’ for a grant, and could not have predicted the speed at which our lives would be turned upside down.
We had forgotten about this quiz, then a week later we were contacted by Energy Advice Helpline. We took care to carry out some research online, and felt they were a legitimate, not for profit organisation. We were talked through the funding aspect and did not qualify on benefits and instead did so on the grounds of a health issue.
Everything happened so quickly.
Unknown to us and with no prior communication, our heating project had been given to Central Eco Solutions in Stirling, by a company called MMW Solutions in Leeds.
We were pursued by these companies to agree to ECO4, unaware of their roles. It took many months of non-disclosure for us to understand the relationship between these organisations, which consisted of a ‘lead generator’, a ‘grant administrator’ (MMW) and an installer. Contrary to PAS2035 standards, we were not assigned a Retrofit Coordinator – the role that may have protected us from what was to follow.
In July 2024, without warning, people started arriving at our home.
White vans delivered a staggering amount of central heating equipment onto our drive; something that was both frightening and very stressful. At all stages of this experience, we have been rushed and pressurised to give people access to our home to complete their work. No one gave us a business card or showed any identification.
The work by numerous workmen and contractors was undertaken in a rush, between 29th July and 15th August 2024.
We had a terrible experience with our installer, Central Eco Solutions (of Stirling), who have damaged our home and whose work seemed cheap and of poor quality. It was horrifying to see our lovely cottage pulled apart by strangers. We have spent the last 18 months trying to get our central heating working properly and rectifying the damage to our home.
Our life has been taken over by researching, writing letters and phoning to get some help. We have complained numerous times to Trustmark, Micro Generational Certification Scheme (MCS), NICEIC and Ofgem and not one of these overseeing bodies have helped us. It seems that these bodies are not fit for purpose and are not there to help the householder, to whom they possess, though fail to uphold, a fundamental duty of care. Instead, details are passed from body to body, and then back again, all under the pretence of ‘quality assurance’. It is the thing of nightmares.
At the centre of the scandal, is the idea ECO4 installers are perfectly capable of monitoring themselves without scrutiny or redress, self-regulated and self-fulfilling.
The complaints system the UK Government set up as part of ECO4 is not fit for purpose, it has let us down and caused a great amount of stress and anxiety.
Surely, no homeowner should be worse off because of ECO4.
We understand that there are hundreds, even thousands, of people like us whose homes have been damaged or ruined from unscrupulous traders as part of ECO4. Absent of oversight, works are conducted not for social good, but to take huge profits without remorse.
Our complaints focus on the following:
Lack of Project Management
We were given no paperwork or contract by Central Eco Solutions. We did not sign any agreement with the company. The process was never explained to us. There was no project planning or a project manager assigned to our project.
No Retrofit Coordinator (RC)
When we requested a technical surveyor- a relative of the CEO of Central Eco Solutions, who we later found out was not a surveyor surveyed our house.
No Warranties
We signed nothing at the end of the installation, so we have reason to believe that our signatures were fraudulently signed by Central Eco Solutions. This is criminal.
Bullying
We were shocked about how threatening and aggressive some of Central Eco Solutions’ emails and phone calls were to us. In some emails they accused us of removing the pipe insulation ourselves, breaking our own lights and inventing problems such as holes in the floor. They threatened us with their lawyers.
Constant turmoil
We asked and begged Central Eco solutions to come back at least 7 times to fix all the problems they had caused. Towards the end of all the snagging repairs which took over a year of us writing and phoning we gave up. Central Eco Solutions just kept lying to us and anything they came back to fix was so badly repaired or not repaired at all that we would not let them back in our house ever again.
Ongoing problems
Insulation on top of carpet
Two of the insulated walls that were installed by Central Eco Solutions are sitting on our wool carpet, as are the skirting boards. This is a huge risk for mould and damp and make the insulated walls non-compliant.
Incorrectly sized heat pump
We have been told that the air source heat pump is insufficient for the size of our house and we do not have adequate hot water to use our bath. An independent air source heat pump installer has verified that the incorrect system was installed
Absent Lagging
The external piping to the heat pump is not insulated properly
Unsightly botched pipework
Most of our internal pipework is mounted down the walls and along our skirting boards and have not been retro fitted to an adequate standard. All of this piping will have to be redone.
Second-hand goods
The inverter Central Eco solutions installed was second hand as it was already registered to someone else.
Not built to last
The battons supporting the new insulation boards on the insulated walls are poorly fixed, and most were glued to our existing walls and not fixed with screws.
Incomplete insulation, causing heat loss
The insulation in the loft needs to be finished, there are a lot of gaps where heat is lost. Some of the joints, elbows, tees etc. need to be insulated up in the loft.
Increased fuel bills
Even in comparison to our costly Rayburn and electric radiators, our fuel bills have risen. This scheme has done little to provide the comforts it was so eager to promise.
We spent over a year trying to reach solutions with the installer, which has been exhausting.
Jackie Barbour
Once it was clear works were to remain incomplete, we contacted quality assurance bodies in good faith, expecting they would intervene. To name a few: Trustmark, Micro Generational Certification Scheme (MCS), NICEIC, Ofgem and the Department of Energy, Security and Net Zero. All these organisations have failed us.
We have been contacted by the press, ITV and BBC, but have so far decided not to seek publicity, but to try the proper channels that were set up to help homeowners going through ECO4. Unfortunately, this has proven unsuccessful.
We believe our installation is not compliant with the Home Heating Cost Reduction Obligation (HHCRO), or PAS 2035 and PAS 2030, which mandates that a project must be planned under PAS 2035 by a Retrofit Coordinator and the work completed by installers certified to PAS 2030 standards.
We would not allow Central Eco Solutions back into our home. They undertake shoddy work and have now lost accreditation.
We have contacted Greg Jackson at Octopus, as Ofgem told us that Octopus funded our ECO4 installation. It has taken Octopus 5 months to take our complaint seriously, but they have finally opened a complaint for us. Sadly, despite being obligated to ensure the lowering of fuel bills under the ECO Order 2022, energy firms most-often depend on the self-assured claims of installers by way of regulation.
On the 9th December 2025, my MP Wendy Chamberlain set up a meeting for ECO4 affected constituents in Fife with Minister Martin McCluskey, Department for Energy Security & Net Zero (DESNZ). We were able to describe our experience and also how badly Trustmark, Ofgem, Micro Generational Certification Scheme (MCS), NICEIC have let us down. We were able to question the Minister and describe the fraud that is taking place with ECO4. The criminal aspect of ECO4 was discussed and we were asked to send in proof of any fraud we thought had taken place to the department. The Minister said that DESNZ is offering an audit for everyone with external wall insulation, but if people have an issue with internal wall insulation being badly fitted, there is a process for triaging to receive an independent audit from the department. There seems to be no process to audit and investigate whole ECO4 installation systems, only internal walls. Again this is letting down the householders.
We pleaded with DESNZ:
- To secure an independent investigation to determine if fraud has taken place.
- To clarify: did Central Eco Solutions fraudulently copy our signatures?
- Has Central Eco Solutions been given the £45,000 they said our installation would cost? This amount of money was definitely not spent on our house.
- How much did they take in profit for themselves and how much did they actually spend on our botched installation? Where is all the financial paperwork?
- To undertake an audit of our installation and offer us immediate interim support
- To put right the two internal insulated walls that are sitting on our carpet, including reinstating the skirting boards, pipeworks, radiators and window sills.
- To install the correct air source heat pump for the size of our house
- To properly retrofit the internal pipework within our rooms
Despite ‘engagement’, there has been no action, and we have received no answers.
Jackie Barbour
There seems to be no functional process for householders whose homes have been damaged by ECO4 installers and no meaningful compensation fund has been set up. People are told, the original installers have to repair the damage. Though, householders do not wish to allow unscrupulous and cowboy installers back into their homes. Some installers have lost their accreditation, as their work was so bad and many companies have ceased trading in order to avoid their obligations. Others go into administration to avoid the liability of the carnage they have created, such as that of Consumer Energy Solutions (CES) in South Wales in January 2026.
We are in touch with the ECO4 Nightmares Facebook Group. Since the group was set up in August 2025 300 ECO4-affected households have contacted the group. Some report terrible damage to their home, many are living in unheated homes and many have suffered a huge reduction in the value of their homes. Many more report deteriorating health, chaos and hardship caused by failed installs and unresolved complaints.