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‘We’ll be back when it is warmer’: Contractors drill holes in Highland widow’s home then fail to fit insulation

Construction worker thermally insulating house attic with glass wool
Ann Warner says crews came to her Halkirk home, drilled holes, then left without installing insulation. Photo: Shutterstock

A widow in the north of Scotland has been left with holes in her walls, after an insulation “expert” came and drilled holes in her wall and failed to come back to finish the job.

Recently widowed Ann Warner from Halkirk, in Caithness, was offered cavity wall insulation after being told it would help reduce her rising fuel costs.

But after provider Eon turned up at her home, only a month after her husband Reverend Kenneth Warner had passed away, they just did some initial work – then left.

The contractor told Mrs Warner they themselves were cold and would return “when it’s warmer”.

A smart meter next to a gas hob
Mrs Warner has been told she needs a smart meter.

That was almost nine months ago and still they have not returned.

Mrs Warner said: “I am a wee bit cross. Shortly after my husband’s death I was faced with a huge electricity bill.

“I was contacted by Eon to find out if they could help me reduce my bills.

Tiny wee holes

“A man from the company eventually came to my house near Halkirk and did the cavity wall insulating drilling and walked off.

“I asked how long it would be until they returned, and the man said ‘it is cold in Caithness‘ and ‘we’ll come back when it is warmer’.”

Mrs Warner has since then made numerous phone calls to Eon to find out when the workers might return to complete the work she has been promised.

And in spite of the days warming up, and being told someone will phone her back, Mrs Warner has not heard anything.

A workers holding a bag of insulation
Insulation.

She continued: “One of the other things the Eon man told me was that I needed a new electricity meter.

“But that has not arrived either. I have been told I have to have a new meter as mine is from the 1980s.

“While I was told I was entitled to a new one – the woman I was speaking to about it on the phone said she didn’t have any new meters. There has been such a big demand – they have run out of them.

“Thankfully I found out myself why my bills were so high, and I have managed to reduce my bills greatly. My heating was up too high.

“My husband was not well before he died and I think he must have turned the heating up to keep us warm.

“I have been able to turn the heat down now and my bill has gone down by 65%. But Eon have started the job so it should be finished.

“They are wee holes, but all the same they have started the job and it should be finished.”

Eon has been contacted to comment.

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