top of page
Home-Welcome-1.jpeg

Do Octopus Energy Know About these Questionable Practises

THE TRUTH REVEALED

It should be against the law for employees of major energy companies to use their positions to force people to use insulation products produced by companies that are owned either by them or family members.


Something needs to be done about this scandal.

Builder fitting insulation fibre to room walls.jpg

As a new installer to the Energy Company Obligation/Great British Insulation Scheme, why am I being forced, with many others, to use a product that I don't want to, supplied by a company who is owned by the head of ECO at Octopus Energy?

The head of ECO at Octopus Energy owns his own insulation company and forces you to buy his inferior product. You cannot get funding to help the poorest people in society if you don't buy his product. He is lining his own pockets while people are freezing.

The insulation company is owned by him and run by his brother and nephew.
​

The product is useless it’s called Ezy Fit but it is impossible to install properly. It uses a Rock Mineral Wool slab supplied by the UK’s largest insulation manufacturer Knauf Insulation. They can’t know their product is being applied in this shoddy way using, at best, highly questionable business practices?

 

Emails from both Knauf and Rockwool say the product isn’t suitable for installation in this way – see below. They don’t support the product when it’s installed like this. How can this be allowed?

​


























It has huge holes in the insulation which will cause major issues with damp and condensation later.  Even the images on their own website show holes in the insulation.









​
It has no vapour control layer so how can it be compliant with the scheme requirements? Me and many other installers are amazed.
 
Inflated prices for a highly unsuitable product which we are forced to use in order to access funding for the scheme which is supposed to help the poorest in society.
 
All other better products are banned at Octopus Energy in a bid to force you to use this rubbish product.
​
Do the people running Octopus Energy know about this abuse of position? Is this even legal?
​
This must be one of the most questionable practices in ECO/GBIS delivery…
​
What does this new government have to say about practices like this?
​
Installers are being forced to install an internal wall insulation system into homes where it’s not suitable and will do more harm than good.
​
Flies completely in the face of PAS quality standards – we should be using the best product for the job not one which is clearly lining the pockets of someone holding public money as they are in this case.
Using Mobile Phones

WE MUST STOP
THIS NOW

Who are we?

We’re a small group of installers/operators in the energy company obligation (ECO) space who also help deliver the Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS).

 

For those that don’t know, both ECO and GBIS are government driven schemes to get energy efficiency delivered into the very poorest in our country. Every domestic gas and/or electricity bill payer pays a levee on their bills which funds this. In a way, this is tax-payers money meant to alleviate fuel poverty.

 

It’s a rewarding yet tough business to be involved in. Finding the people who qualify and getting the work done to increasingly high standards like PAS2030: 2023 and PAS2035 and many others.

DID YOU KNOW, NATIONAL ENERGY ACTION (NEA) ESTIMATES THAT 6 MILLION HOUSEHOLDS WERE IN FUEL POVERTY IN THE UK IN OCTOBER 2024. NEA DEFINES A HOUSEHOLD AS FUEL POOR IF IT SPENDS MORE THAN 10% OF ITS INCOME ON ENERGY.

Even the Government Recognises How Bad Fuel Poverty Is

 

Government estimates that 8.9 million households in England could be classed as fuel poor in 2023. This is much higher than even NEA’s forecast. This estimate includes the impact of government support schemes like ECO and GBIS. The depth of fuel poverty has increased, even though the number of households in fuel poverty hasn't. The fuel poverty gap, which is the total reduction in energy costs needed to take all fuel poor households out of fuel poverty, increased by an estimated 67% between 2020 and 2023.

 

We got angry at the fact that in a business that’s hard enough, someone could abuse their power so blatantly.

 

The head of ECO delivery at the very largest energy company (electricity) forces anyone who wants to deal with Octopus Energy to use an inferior product in order to continue working with them.

 

And, this is company 80% owned by the same Head of ECO, controlled by his brother and nephew. At the same time, I am banned from using any other products if I want to work with Octopus Energy. I’m told use this product or don’t have access to Octopus Energy funding.

 

How can this be right or fair? This is something which has to change and I hope what we have to share with you here, brings about that change.

​

WERE UNCOVERING NEW INFORMATION ALL OF THE TIME AND WILL BE RELEASING THIS AT REGULAR INTERVALS UNTIL THIS ABUSE OF POWER IS STOPPED OR WITHDRAWN

This is the tip of the iceberg in terms of abuse of power. Come back to read more on these pages as we add to the story and bring new insights.

 

Join our campaign now we must get this stopped.

 

We currently have the support of 72 installers and growing, add your name to the list and we can get this stopped.

​

Thanks for submitting!

Having spent years in the traditional building industry, I was pleased and proud I could put our lead generation skills to the test by becoming an ECO/GBIS installer.

 

This is a great industry to be part of – being able to do well by doing some good for householders. Certainly, the schemes we identified in the south east of the UK and in many other areas too thought so. Here we were, making people warm in their homes, through government directed, energy company funded schemes. What a great business to be part of!

 

However, during this year we have come across the worst abuse of position I’ve seen in many years…and I’ve been in industries which are known to be bad for this.

 

The head of ECO at Octopus Energy, the largest obligated electricity producer the UK, and a company that projects itself to be better than the others, forcing us to use an inferior product, at inflated prices, when the person forcing me to install it, owns the company.

 

How can this be right? How is this fair?

 

Join me at adding your thoughts, comments and feedback so we can let Octopus Energy and the people leading the scheme know about this and bring about some change. How can we deliver the good work the scheme is meant to deliver when we’re being forced to work with products we don’t want to?

 

Leave your anonymous comments below – your details will not be shared with anyone. Help me tell those with the power to change this about something which is just not right. Tell me about your experiences and how you’ve been forced to work with this product, in order to continue working with Octopus Energy, to access their funding for ECO/GBIS into 2025.

​

We’re a small group of installers/operators in the energy company obligation space who also help deliver the Great British Insulation Scheme (GBIS).

​

For those that don’t know, both ECO and GBIS are government driven schemes to get energy efficiency delivered into the very poorest in our country. Every domestic gas and/or electricity bill payer pays a levee on their bills which funds this. In a way, this is tax-payers money meant to alleviate fuel poverty.

It’s a rewarding yet tough business to be involved in. Finding the people who qualify and getting the work done to increasingly high standards like PAS2030: 2023 and PAS2035 and many others.

​

DID YOU KNOW, NATIONAL ENERGY ACTION (NEA) ESTIMATES THAT 6 MILLION HOUSEHOLDS WERE IN FUEL POVERTY IN THE UK IN OCTOBER 2024. NEA DEFINES A HOUSEHOLD AS FUEL POOR IF IT SPENDS MORE THAN 10% OF ITS INCOME ON ENERGY. 

​

Even the Government Recognises How Bad Fuel Poverty Is


Government estimates that 8.9 million households in England could be classed as fuel poor in 2023. This is much higher than even NEA’s forecast. This estimate includes the impact of government support schemes like ECO and GBIS. The depth of fuel poverty has increased, even though the number of households in fuel poverty hasn't. The fuel poverty gap, which is the total reduction in energy costs needed to take all fuel poor households out of fuel poverty, increased by an estimated 67% between 2020 and 2023.

​

We got angry at the fact that in a business that’s hard enough, someone could abuse their power so blatantly. The head of ECO delivery at the very largest energy company (electricity) forces anyone who wants to deal with Octopus Energy to use an inferior product in order to continue working with them. 

And, this is company 80% owned by the same Head of ECO, controlled by his brother and nephew. At the same time, I am banned from using any other products if I want to work with Octopus Energy. I’m told use this product or don’t have access to Octopus Energy funding.

​

How can this be right or fair? This is something which has to change and I hope what we have to share with you here, brings about that change.

​

This is the tip of the iceberg in terms of abuse of power. Come back to read more on these pages as we add to the story and bring new insights.
 

​

​

bottom of page