Keeping the poor warm
Discussion
My Dad, dropped round this morning; ironically, given this post, to help me with an issue with my central heating.
Anyway, over a cuppa afterwards, he mentions that he's getting a new gas boiler in a week or so. I mentioned that I hoped that he'd got a good price and he said that it was free.
Free?
Yep - apparently he gets a 'voucher' from the Government to the value of £3,500 for a new boiler.
But, but, but... I said, boilers (supply and fit) don't cost £3,500.
Cue shruggy shoulders from Dad.
So, I do a bit of Googling, to find out more about this benefit.
It's not just old people who get these vouchers.
Pregnant and on benefits? Ker-ching!
Got kids and on benefits? Ker-ching!
But it's not just the broad selection of recipients which riles me, it's the value of the voucher. A replacement combi boiler for my Dad's unit will be about £800. A day's labour on top? £500? But the firms who have got these contracts weigh in the whole voucher value.
So basically, I'm paying for heating engineers to make excessive profits whilst keeping pregnant mouth-breathers in cosy comfort.
Frankly, I'd rather that my Dad just sent me the (negotiated) bill for his new boiler and everyone else just f
ked right off!
Anyway, over a cuppa afterwards, he mentions that he's getting a new gas boiler in a week or so. I mentioned that I hoped that he'd got a good price and he said that it was free.
Free?
Yep - apparently he gets a 'voucher' from the Government to the value of £3,500 for a new boiler.
But, but, but... I said, boilers (supply and fit) don't cost £3,500.
Cue shruggy shoulders from Dad.
So, I do a bit of Googling, to find out more about this benefit.
It's not just old people who get these vouchers.
Pregnant and on benefits? Ker-ching!
Got kids and on benefits? Ker-ching!
But it's not just the broad selection of recipients which riles me, it's the value of the voucher. A replacement combi boiler for my Dad's unit will be about £800. A day's labour on top? £500? But the firms who have got these contracts weigh in the whole voucher value.
So basically, I'm paying for heating engineers to make excessive profits whilst keeping pregnant mouth-breathers in cosy comfort.
Frankly, I'd rather that my Dad just sent me the (negotiated) bill for his new boiler and everyone else just f
ked right off!
.. 
why not burn both? Even bigger problem solved. 
My elderly grandmother got free boiler, all new pipework, and new rads through the house. Didn't need them. Didn't really want them but got them anyway courtesy of the wonderful British taxpayer! I guess the government asked British Gas what the cost would likely be as that figure is what they quoted me when I looked for a new boiler last March.
I also got 3 independants to quote and they all were between £1500 and £1800.
Funny, I was only just talking with my Dad yesterday (ex-coucil man) about how firms see a government contract and add 'public service multiplier'.
I also got 3 independants to quote and they all were between £1500 and £1800.
Funny, I was only just talking with my Dad yesterday (ex-coucil man) about how firms see a government contract and add 'public service multiplier'.
No surpise though is it. Look at anything involving a company or the govenment paying and everything doubles or triples in price.
Car repair for my wifes golf - Paying yourself sir, ok thats £600. Hmm says me thats a bit steep, we'll stick it on the insurance. Ahh ok. Thats £1200 then.
Had a small leak in the house that resulted in new laminate floor, new lino , small bit of plastering and a quick slap of paint.
New Lino (organised this myself) £200 inc fitting. Wooden floor had only just been completed when we had the leak so I know it cost me £400 + a day of my time to lay. Plastering - they faffed around so I did it myself and charged them £20 for plaster plus £50 for my time. Only 1 wall needed paint. 3 coats, bloke came out took all day to do it.
So I paid for Lino, fitting, plaster and plastering (my time) = £270
New floor laid by an 'expert' who took 5 visits and total of 3 days, should have been around £600 all in
Tin of paint , painter well lets be generous and call it £200 for the day
So total cost should be around £1000 ish + a bit of admin from the maintenance co that did the stuff I didnt do.
I had to sit down when the ins co told me the final bill they paid out was £5,500 !!
Car repair for my wifes golf - Paying yourself sir, ok thats £600. Hmm says me thats a bit steep, we'll stick it on the insurance. Ahh ok. Thats £1200 then.
Had a small leak in the house that resulted in new laminate floor, new lino , small bit of plastering and a quick slap of paint.
New Lino (organised this myself) £200 inc fitting. Wooden floor had only just been completed when we had the leak so I know it cost me £400 + a day of my time to lay. Plastering - they faffed around so I did it myself and charged them £20 for plaster plus £50 for my time. Only 1 wall needed paint. 3 coats, bloke came out took all day to do it.
So I paid for Lino, fitting, plaster and plastering (my time) = £270
New floor laid by an 'expert' who took 5 visits and total of 3 days, should have been around £600 all in
Tin of paint , painter well lets be generous and call it £200 for the day
So total cost should be around £1000 ish + a bit of admin from the maintenance co that did the stuff I didnt do.
I had to sit down when the ins co told me the final bill they paid out was £5,500 !!
remedy said:
Funny, I was only just talking with my Dad yesterday (ex-coucil man) about how firms see a government contract and add 'public service multiplier'.
I've done a few jobs for local councils. The first one I charged our standard rates for and made a loss on it. Normally we are good at estimating the PS days for a job as this is the variable we are fixed on. I now charge double the number of days on any public sector job and we are still often cheaper than most suppliers but we actually use alot more days on these jobs.To me, this kind of story is a real Piss boiler.
Handing out feebies to people is where we, as a country, are at now. I'm not having a dig at the OP (or his Dad), but this is all wrong. I mean, looking after OAPs, who've paid their dues into the pot (so top speak) and are entitled to pull some out, is one thing, but dishing it out to benefit scroungers is another.
Heating broken and it's cold - tough! Save up and pay. Earn your way through life. Got no job? Stay cold!
The underlying issue here is that when it's time to cast your vote, the scroungers will vote for the party that looks after them. Won't they? And, as the pool of people "claiming" gets larger, the pool of people paying tax (ie: Me) gets smaller. What does that tell you?
My views are a "little" right wing I know, but it really gets on my tits about how so many people rely on the Gov't to look after them. Tossers.
Like I say, I'm not saying it's wrong that the OPs Dad can claim, it's just all the rest...
Bowler said:
The underlying issue here is that when it's time to cast your vote, the scroungers will vote for the party that looks after them. Won't they? And, as the pool of people "claiming" gets larger, the pool of people paying tax (ie: Me) gets smaller. What does that tell you?
My views are a "little" right wing I know, but it really gets on my tits about how so many people rely on the Gov't to look after them. Tossers.
I blaim Thatcher for destroying the manufacturing base that used to give the working class jobs that paid enough to heat their own homes.My views are a "little" right wing I know, but it really gets on my tits about how so many people rely on the Gov't to look after them. Tossers.
Bowler said:
My views are a "little" right wing I know
Pah! Should GB Plc ever be lucky enough to become the fascist republic of Mobile Chicania, teenage mothers wouldn't have boilers to worry about in my planned communities of tent villages.
All other benefit scroungers would be strapped to treadmills and forced to generate electricity for the National Grid. Fatties first.
Mobile Chicane said:
Bowler said:
My views are a "little" right wing I know
Pah! Should GB Plc ever be lucky enough to become the fascist republic of Mobile Chicania, teenage mothers wouldn't have boilers to worry about in my planned communities of tent villages.
All other benefit scroungers would be strapped to treadmills and forced to generate electricity for the National Grid. Fatties first.
Mobile Chicane - "Enforcement Minister"
Mobile Chicane said:
Bowler said:
My views are a "little" right wing I know
Pah! Should GB Plc ever be lucky enough to become the fascist republic of Mobile Chicania, teenage mothers wouldn't have boilers to worry about in my planned communities of tent villages.
All other benefit scroungers would be strapped to treadmills and forced to generate electricity for the National Grid. Fatties first.
V8mate said:
But it's not just the broad selection of recipients which riles me, it's the value of the voucher. A replacement combi boiler for my Dad's unit will be about £800. A day's labour on top? £500? But the firms who have got these contracts weigh in the whole voucher value.
So basically, I'm paying for heating engineers to make excessive profits whilst keeping pregnant mouth-breathers in cosy comfort.
Frankly, I'd rather that my Dad just sent me the (negotiated) bill for his new boiler and everyone else just fked right off!
Eaga organises most (all?) of the work from WarmFront and has a really terrible reputation. They've been featured on all of the consumer programmes and questions have been asked about them in Parliament.So basically, I'm paying for heating engineers to make excessive profits whilst keeping pregnant mouth-breathers in cosy comfort.
Frankly, I'd rather that my Dad just sent me the (negotiated) bill for his new boiler and everyone else just f
ked right off!One thing they do is often quote that the work will cost considerably more than the allowance, and the poor person (who has no money) has to pay this up front before the work can start. The electrics also have to be up to standard at the occupiers cost.
The work they do is roundly criticised - they use nasty boilers and all pipe-work is surface mounted.
I didn't think they normally replace existing boilers? The scheme is aimed at people who have no existing CH
Edited by Deva Link on Sunday 17th January 18:32
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