Energy Saving Trust Reviews 

Totally agree with Mac comments - my situation is even worse. I’m currently at 36 working days since I sent in my completed loan claim and I still haven’t received any funds. I have been repeatedly lied to - the online portal still suggests 5 - 10 working days to process the claim and a further 3-5 to receive the funds! The staff on the phone lines have a thankless task and can only hand out platitudes when it’s clear that they totally understand that they are working in the midst of a shambles. Management at the EST should be true lu ashamed of their performance but as Mac says this seems all to typical of Government funded schemes where no one is held accountable for their serious failings. Don’t forget this is taxpayers money not some generous philanthropist. Disgraceful service and unfortunately it’s undermining the very laudable goal of encouraging people to buy an electric vehicle. Shame on the managers at the EST for their poor performance

The initial pre-approval process wasn't too bad..that's until you finally get the invoice from your car dealership and have to send it to these useless *****. They tell you it will take 10 days to process and 5 days to send the funds. We'll it has now been 28 working days and still no sign of the funds. We keep chasing them daily and all they can say is: "the money will be here soon, I can see your file and your notes but I am not allowed to discuss them with you". When you ask to speak to a supervisor, they tell you you will get a call within 2 working days...well it has been 9 working days....and still nothing. I can certainly understand the concept of because backlog, but why did our neighbours, who applied 2 weeks after us, manage to get their funds 10days ago?? This epitomises the worse service you can get from a government agency full of carefree overpaid and totally incompetent staff.

What a waste of time and effort to try and get a loan for an electric car, provided all of the information requested and this was still not enough. I asked about trust pilot and staff did not know that Energy Trust Scotland were registered. I have raised a complaint but I think I am wasting my time. I then read the reviews and could see that the reviews were accurate. I will not get any feedback from my complaint going with the reviews already submitted. Take your loan application off the market until you have got correct processes in place.

A terrible experience.

I followed the process, adhered to their timescales, submitted the information required and I had my loan approved. Delighted, until it comes to them issuing the funds. Unfortunately, they set themselves generous timescales only to miss them. Seeking an update was useless. They stonewalled me, told me that it would take a further 15 working days to respond. I missed out on my car as a result and they will cost me c£1k to hire a car in the meantime. A bank loan would have been approved and paid in 15 minutes, this will be over 60 (SIXTY) days for the whole process. I regret dealing with them, and I am sure that they will single-handedly hinder people switching to electric vehicles. I intend to elevate so they can be investigated in the hope that they improve, drastically. Do yourself a favour, do not go near them - an incompetent quango.

Complete and utter shambles, why is a trust showing £91 MILLION in its accounts? they know nothing about saving energy, spent years trying to get the loan for renewables after they told me I should install a GSHP, no approved installers, scheme ends each year before you can get a contractor to give a quote let alone do the work. Spent £52,000 on a heating system, no help from EST or Home Energy Scotland, Everwarm, Warmworks, Scarf or all the other side companies attached to the Scottish Government.
Promised insulation, another fiasco, thought room in roof was solid wall after months of battles, they accepted I was right, 3 hours before the deadline for the help ran out. The EST should be wound up and Scottish Government should listen to the reviews.
Even had a letter From Nicola Sturgeon, all the way down to Ministers, MSPs and MPs, all have not got a clue.
Grant for insulated doors! cannot have it because mine was insulated, I had sprayed expanding foam in the gap!!
Scot Gov stopped me mailing them, claimed I had been given a loan of £10k and they had written it off! never seen a penny of that.
Stay well clear of this lot, they have not got a clue about energy saving.

What a complete and utter shambles. Voucher is unusable as local bikes shops won't reply, won't accept the vouchers (despite being registered) as they are not being paid for the repairs completed through the scheme, or are saying we can fix your bike in 4 months time (when the voucher has expired)! All of the bike shops are really scathing of the scheme. It has been a complete waste of my time; no idea how the UK thinks it can get to Net Zero if it cannot operate a basic scheme such as this properly

Applied for an electric vehicle grant the process is slow the money does take an age to get to your account however the staff do know what they are talking about and are friendly. I would recommend as it’s a government backed scheme so how can you go that wrong really give it a go

Had to chase them several times just to get them to reply to emails. Always delayed and they are using Covid-19 remote working as a poor excuse as to why they aren't answering emails (must not have internet at home). The people that work there are slow and useless.

Would not advise anyone to use energy saving trust. Go elsewhere and pay the interest as the interest free isn’t worth it. Months of hassle for a simple loan and have still not received payment resulting in being in trouble with installers. No responses to emails, terrible wait times, the staff lie about when they are going to do stuff and when payment will be made, every time they say they will call you back they never do. Worst customer service I have ever received.

In Scotland, we're still waiting for boiler loan payment after submitting completed claim forms 2 months ago. Painfully slow response to emails. EST staff in Scotland do not go into offices to check post. EST in Scotland does not keep legal contracts in secure online format. Asks borrowers to submit bank details and copies of passports by unsecured email. Pandemic is conveniently blamed for what are woefully inadequate & incompetent systems service levels.

complete waste of time. Board of directors should be thoroughly ashamed.They shoud be investigated and held to account.shocking shocking shocking

I can concur with the other reviews what a useless process this is. After an hour on the phone I was told that i could not get help with the boiler i had just had to get installed after the service uncovered some problems which would have cost more to fix than a new boiler. My boiler was 14 years old and during the service it completely packed in so i was left with no choice but to replace it. Energy saving trust said i could not claim retrospectively for the boiler so that means i would have been without heating or hot water until they had returned my call which they advised would be within five days, had gone through the process to see if i qualified for help and then through the application process. Who can go indefinately without hot water? Next they said i could not get help for new windows even though they are about 20 years old and the seals are broken. Only help if single glazed and advice for broken seals was to get draft excluder to stick round them lol. Obviously they don't know what broken seals means till i explained. Ceiling insulation was the third thing i asked about which could qualify for 25% help with costs but without help to pay for my unexpected boiler, then the insulation will have to go on hold for some time. They were more interested in what i had my thermostats set at so they could tell me to turn them down by one degree and about how many showers and baths i have in a week. Obviously these are just standard call centre questions with standard call centre answers. I wouldn't waste my time phoning them again. Lost the will to live after an hour on the phone.

The process from applying to finally being paid the loan took approximately 6 long months. They authorised the work in December but I didn't receive the money to pay the tradesman until April, which didn't make me a very popular customer with him. The whole experience was beset by errors, inconsistencies and oversights on their part. Communication was disjointed and slow. Their processes are laborious, rigid and pernickety. I would never use them again nor recommend them to anyone. Just seems to be a very badly managed organisation with no clue about case or process management.