I was contacted by an elderly constituent from the Stamperland area who had someone call at her door to try and sell cavity wall insulation. The resident was told that come 2010 she would not be able to sell her house without having cavity wall insulation and felt pressurised by the salesperson. This is completely false.

I contacted Steve Fox of Trading Standards who gave the following advice

1. The statement made to your constituent may breach the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and we would like to find the trader

2..When selling a house you need a Home Report one part of which is an Energy Performance Certificate. EPCs carry ratings that compare the current energy efficiency and carbon dioxide emissions with potential figures that your home could achieve. Potential figures are calculated by estimating what the energy efficiency and carbon dioxide emissions would be if energy saving measures were put in place. It could be that salesmen are “targeting” houses that are for sale and trying to “persuade” sellers that by making their houses more energy efficient and hence reducing bills that they will sell more easily.

3.. There is a new piece of legislation that protects consumers from doorstep sellers called The Cancellation of Contracts made in a Consumer’s Home or Place of Work etc. Regulations 2008.

• This requires that most contracts signed on a consumers home are subject to a ”cooling off” period of 7 days i.e. the consumer can cancel the contract at no cost within 7 days of signing. The cancellation must be in writing.

• The trader must give notice of the right to cancel—failure to do so is a criminal offence and the contract is in valid i.e. the consumer does not have to pay

• If the consumer waves their right to cancel and then decides to cancel within the 7 days cooling off period they must pay for the goods and services that the trader has supplied

If you ever feel uncomfortable with door salespersons get as much details as possible ie contact number, car registration description of person and report the matter to trading standards 577 3115 Never hand over money

Cllr Ralph Robertson