Insulation scam hits
By Matt Dunn
SHONKY fly-by-night insulation installers have descended on South Gippsland, leaving householders in potential fire traps and without proper insulation.
Stories have been filtering out of Korumburra and Leongatha, but The Star believes other towns have also been stung in the scam, with many residents unaware they have been short changed.
The operators bill the Federal Government $1200 for each job under its Energy Efficient Homes Package, sometimes filling in false invoices that claim much larger jobs.
Other scams include asking residents for extra money that is not owed and only filling part of the roof space with insulation while claiming a complete job has been done.
One Korumburra building expert, who wanted to remain anonymous lest he be inundated by requests to check insulation jobs, said his parents had been stung in the scam.
The elderly couple did not have the ability to check the work.
“I was told that the installers were qualified, all work would be done to the Australian Standard and if I wasn’t happy with the job that they’d done not to sign the form until I was satisfied,” he said.
“The guys turned up Friday afternoon to do the work and didn’t have any identification with them, but did have the insulation rebate paperwork saying which company they were from.
“They proceeded to put the insulation in, I checked the type of insulation and the square metres covered by each bag. My father and I counted the bags of insulation that were put into the ceiling. They’d allowed in the quote to put in 110 square metres. When they guy said he was finished he’d only put eight bags, 72 square metres into the ceiling, so I tackled him on
the issue.”
Under sufferance the worker filled the ceiling space, but it “looked like the batts had been literally thrown around in there”.
The man complained, and while the company said it would return, the workers never came back.
The man also checked out the work done in the unit of his parents’ friends. While the job was done by a different company it was also substandard, with the government being billed for a bigger job than had actually been done.
The Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts has already deregistered 16 installation companies for improper conduct under the Federal Government’s Energy Efficient Homes Package scheme.
A detailed list of questions regarding the scheme was sent to the department, and while there were assurances the questions would be answered, this did not occur before The Star
went to print.
Ian Smith, from AW Smith hardware in Leongatha, said people had to be wary of dodgy operators.
Mr Smith’s business organises insulation, but does so using qualified contractors.
“I don’t know where these people are travelling from, but they’re not from Leongatha. They can call it a remote area and charge extra to get here. The government is insisting that a criteria is followed, but these operators are not taking notice of it,” he said.
“They’re totally against the law the way they’re doing it. The government is really tightening up on the rules so they can get rid of these shonkies so the householder isn’t getting ripped off. They’re definitely not doing the right thing.”
Leongatha Police’s Sergeant Scott Bodycomb said the station had received several complaints about insulation installers.
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