A Ramsgate woman says she is desperate for help after she was left without water or heating following work to upgrade her boiler as part of the government’s ECO4 scheme.
Alexa Robinson-Jopp moved to Ramsgate two years ago and was initially in temporary accommodation.
Money from a small inheritance allowed her to buy her home in Elmstone Road which she shares with her cat Cornelius.
Because of illnesses that result in seizures Alexa claims benefits and this meant she was eligible for the government energy efficient scheme.
Eco4 is a UK government scheme, running from April 2022 to March 2026, that aims to improve energy efficiency in homes, reduce carbon emissions, and tackle fuel poverty by providing grants for energy-saving measures.
The works cover loft insulation, cavity wall insulation, and solid wall insulation; First-time central heating, boiler upgrades, and heat pumps and Solar panels and other renewable energy technologies.
After filling in an online form Alexa was contacted by Smartway Energy Ltd who told her she had been approved for the grant to upgrade her home.
The approved works included boiler installation, radiator Thermostatic Radiator Valve (TRV) replacement; extractor fan in the bathroom, trickle vents on windows and loft insulation.
Alexa, 32, said: “I thought that was wonderful.
“About five (workmen) turned up. They couldn’t do the trickle vents so drilled holes in the wall for air vents.
“They said the radiators weren’t included in my grant but Mr. Tabi (from Smartway) said they should do it and they started that at 8pm.”
Alexa says the following day she could hear banging but thought it might be because the boiler was new. She then noticed the towel rail in her bathroom was ‘half hot and half cold’ and later discovered the bedroom radiator was leaking.
She added: “I was checking whether my jacket was dry and noticed there was a leak from the radiator. The TRV had not been put on, it was balanced at an angle and not screwed on. There was also a big puddle and the carpet was soaking wet.
“I put it (TRV) on and the whole thing exploded like a fire hydrant in the cartoons, black water hit me in the face, hit the ceiling, up the wall, my new chair and even went into the other room that I use as a make-up room. I was in shock.”
Alexa says she called Mr Tabi about the explosion and workmen were sent out but she didn’t want them to touch anything.
Alexa says she screwed the TRV back on. Smartway disputes this, claiming she used a wrench, rupturing the pipe, but Alexa denies this. She also claims one radiator had what looked like a bottle top propped on the valve.
Alexa also had a large leak under the kitchen sink which was causing water to run into the electrics for her washing machine.
An emergency plumber attended, via Alexa’s home insurance, and refitted the TRVs – which he said had been not been correctly installed- and advised her to get the new boiler checked.
Southern Water also came out to turn off the water when Alexa was unable to find the stopcock, which is located outside.
A spokesman said: “One of our inspectors attended on March 12th for an emergency shut off,” adding: “If there is still an issue our inspector is happy to revisit the property.”
Alexa said: “I had no heating, just cold water. I have a machine getting all the moisture out of the floorboards, it all needs redecorating, the new carpet is ruined, my home is destroyed.”
Alexa says it looks like her home insurance won’t cover repairs if it is caused by poor workmanship. She has contacted Trustmark, Simply Certification and Trading Standards.
She has been staying, along with her cat, at an air bnb up the road but has to leave by Monday and says she has no idea how to rectify the issues at her home.
Smartway Energy says the work was completed properly and provided paperwork to show it was signed off by Alexa with “no issues.”#
They say they are willing to return to the property to carry out remedial works but have not been permitted to do so.
Mr Tabi says a gas engineer carried out pipework and the ‘low temperature’ which Alexa experienced with the radiators is because Radbot intelligent TRV installation was used which means when a room is unoccupied the system automatically reduces the heating to save energy.
The firm also says it flushed the radiators and insists that a wrench was used to tighten the TRV and this ‘burst the pipe.’
Mr Tabi said: “We will still help her if she lets us.”
Alexa said: “I don’t even own a wrench. As if I would do this to my own home.”
Last night (March 14) an engineer from Sedgwick Repair Solutions attended and managed to isolate the leak under the sink, meaning water is returned to the house other than hot water to the kitchen mixer tap. He advised the sink would need to be removed by a kitchen fitter to make repairs to the pipe behind it.
Alexa has now contacted East Thanet MP Polly Billington to ask for help.
Ms Billington said: “I am shocked and appalled by the situation Alexa finds herself in, but unfortunately she’s not alone. I have had a number of cases of residents who have been disappointed by the standards of work in their homes completed under this scheme.
“The energy minister has already said she is looking into shoddy work carried out by government-funded subcontractors in schemes like this one, and assessing how the people impacted can be compensated.
“I will be raising the case of Alexa and others with ministers this week, to push for the quickest possible action to put these failures right.”
Simply Certification has contacted Smartway Energy which is supplying the certification body with a timeline and its evidence.
Absolutely devastating. I hope she gets justice and compensation. Alexa is lucky , not to get burns on her skin prior to it mgmt hot water was at present. Lucky escape. 😢
It sounds like she has had cowboys call to do their level best to make an hash of the job. She has done right to go public with this. Hopefully the government will now send tradesmen to do a proper job.
A scheme paid for by the additional charges on our electric bills. Work subbed out to the lowest bidder so that the politicians can say they’ve helped the maximum number of people. Those rads are ancient, it’s unlikely the system was flushed properly, rather looks as though the rad valves are similarly ancient and there was a half hearted attempt to fit new TRV heads. A rad half hot half cold is going to ve far more likely yo be one that needs bleeding, but that does rely on the accuracy of the description of the problem.
But it must be nice to be able to have afforded a house with a spare room to do your makeup in and have the taxpayer improve your heating system. First world problems that make the UK such an attractive destination.
Another one of those stories that doesn’t quite sound right. A quick look on rightmove shows only 2 houses sold on elmstone in last 2 years.
The most recent was in December 2024. Sold for 380k so not a small inheritance and having arrived in ramsgate and gone straight into temporary housing would suggest there wwas little in the bank at the time. As such unlikely there were the savings and earnings to support a mortgage if the inheritance was just enough for the deposit.
So in just 3 months, a house is bought with an old heating system rather than cheaper home which would leave money to improve it, health deteriorates to become eleigible for benefits to improve the home you’ve not long bought and assumably there’s council tax benefit as well.
Would i be the only taxpayer still reeling from paying my bill in january that feels they’re having their leg lifted and that you have to wonder if playing the system isn’t a better option than working?
Yeah, this article had me thinking along those same lines 🤔
Hopefully TDC and DWP see the article and investigate, really can’t see why the taxpayer is expected to support someone’s property owning aspirations. And since when was a circa £380k inheritance small?
here here , seems she shot herself in the foot . what was she hoping for – crowd funding ?
A bit naive, contacting East Thanet MP Polly Billington to ask for help.
Catfish