From April 1st 2010 British Gas are offering a £200 discount off a new boiler plus one year’s free HomeCare 200 boiler insurance worth £204. Purchases made prior to 30th May 2010 will also be offered interest free credit for a year.

Recently published figures from the Energy Savings Trust (EST) showed that as of 16th March 2010, 118,785 Government vouchers had been allocated with 35,390 A-rated boilers being installed. Since then the full allocation of vouchers has been taken up by homeowners.

However, whilst the Government’s discount is no longer available, energy firms are still offering their own incentives on new boilers.

Boiler Scrappage Schemes for Wales and Scotland are also about to get going, with the Welsh scheme to start on the April 6th 2010 by offering a £500 discount,whilst the Scottish Government has pledged £2m towards Boiler Scrappage Schemes through its Energy Assistance Package scheme.

125,000 households have taken advantage of the scheme, which offered homeowners a £400 discount off the cost of a new A-rated boiler when they traded in the old G-rated one.

Energy minister Lord Hunt said: “The scheme’s been a great success and is already helping people cut down on their fuel bills. An ‘A-rated’ energy efficient boiler can help save around £200 a year off fuel bills and reduce emissions. 

“The scheme has also provided a much needed boost to England’s plumbers and boiler manufacturers, helping to sustain work for the 130,000 installers and up to 25 UK-based boiler manufacturers throughout the economic recovery.”

Some 54,758 vouchers which give households a £400 discount off a new A-Rated boiler when they trade in their old G-Rated boiler have been claimed, with approximately 70,000 still available.

The scheme has been made even more attractive by some larger energy companies such as British Gas offering an addition £400 cut on top of that given by the Government. 

The EST has said they have so far received c.400,000 calls about the scheme meaning a take up rate of 14%. The South East and North West have been the biggest take-up with 9,387 and 8,186 respectively.

However, with potentially 3.5m households eligible for the scheme and over 100,000 plumbing and heating engineers in the UK, the Association of Plumbing and Heating have said the scheme “fell short” of helping those in the industry.

So far there has been no hint that the boiler scrappage scheme will be extended, and with the number of vouchers available tumbling and savings of over £200 per year to be made by switching to an A-Rated boiler, it’s advisable to move quickly if you plan on taking advantage of the scheme.

The £400 vouchers should be received approximately 10 days after receipt of your application to the EST. The vouchers are valid for 12 weeks from the date of issue and are to be redeemed against a new boiler from a manufacturer of an A-rated gas, oil or LPG units, or alternatively boilers with a Passive Flue Heat Recovery Device, Micro CHP units or Microgeneration Certification Scheme-registered biomass boilers and heat pumps. Solar Thermal is also eligible if combined with an eligible boiler replacement. Electric boilers are NOT eligible.

Once you’ve received your voucher, you will need to contact your gas installer to arrange a date for installation. Please note you cannot claim the £400 discount until the boiler installation work has been completed and payment has been made in full to the installer!

To claim the £400 discount, send the voucher together with the gas installation invoice to the Energy Savings Trust – AFTER you have paid in full for the new boiler and installation work. Payment will then be issued within 25 working days from receipt of both of these items.

If the voucher is not redeemed within the 12 week period, the EST will cancel the voucher and reallocate the funding to a new applicant.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) confirmed the scheme had prompted 72,000 telephone calls to the EST in just the first 5 days since the scheme kicked off, as those looking to benefit moved swiftly to ensure they are one of the estimated 125,000 who could benefit from the £400 Government discount.

The EST in turn admitted the huge level of interest could result in funding reaching its limit by March. A spokesperson for the DECC said: “The scheme’s been very popular. We’re very happy with the take up. There are vouchers available and people should apply for the scheme”.

Boilerscrappagescheme.co.uk have also been inundated with enquiries from homeowners and gas engineers. The Boiler Scrappage Team have suggested one of the most effective and economic methods of making homeowners aware of gas fitting services is for approved gas engineers to create google ads, which can be quickly viewed by homeowners searching for approved gas fitters.

The Boiler Scrappage Scheme also announced “The sign-up by a large nationwide gas installer to Boilerscrappagescheme.co.uk is imminent. Once this is confirmed, visitors will not only have a SEDUK database for determining whether their existing boiler qualifies but also have direct access to approved gas fitters with excellent geographic coverage.”

Homeowners are currently finding the up-to-date Google Ads to be a very useful source for gas fitters and boiler information.