CAS welcomes the proposals for ECO3. The ECO scheme has helped deliver energy efficiency measures to vulnerable consumers in two other phases and we were pleased to see that BEIS and Ofgem are expanding consumer protections in this third iteration. In particular, we are pleased to see the incorporation of Trustmark into ECO3 to certify suppliers.
While accreditation is an important component of consumer protection, it alone is not sufficient; it needs to be backed up with monitoring and enforcement by an independent adjudicator. This is critical to ensure that the Trustmark scheme has teeth to sanction and enforce compliance which in turn leads to good outcomes for consumers, whilst also building credibility and trust.
We would also like to see development in:
- A level of oversight of Trustmark’s capability to monitor this sector beyond the transition period.
- Provision for consumer redress where an installer has gone out of business
- Provisions to ensure sub-contracted work is held to the same level of quality and consumers offered the same level of redress as with main contractors
- Work towards ensuring, currently excluded district heat customers, have access to comparative and adequate consumer protection and redress.