Insulation firm faked our signatures and received public money

Tony and Becs Wadley say their signatures were forged and documents faked by an energy efficiency installer under a government scheme to tackle fuel poverty.

The BBC understands Stellar Energy, which carried out work at the home in south Wales, is being investigated by Octopus Energy, the project's funders, over allegations of fraud. Stellar Energy denies wrongdoing.

Some 30,000 homes are estimated to have had faulty insulation fitted since 2022, while just 3,500 have been audited. Mrs Wadley says it has been "soul destroying" trying to fix her home.

The government says it inherited a failing scheme, adding: "We are helping every household affected to access an audit as quickly as possible."

The Wadleys had internal wall insulation, solar panels and heat pumps fitted in their Gower Peninsula home in 2024 under the government's ECO4 scheme of home energy upgrades. They say they qualified for the scheme because of their son's asthma.

The Wadleys told the BBC December last year that botched insulation caused black mould to grow in multiple rooms.

Six months on, Mrs Wadley says little progress has been made on repairs and that the company has "destroyed" their lives for several years. "We're all sick in different ways, mentally and physically."

Stellar Energy says that of 690 homes it has worked on, the Wadleys' property is "the only one which has resulted in a significant complaint".

The company also says it had "limited access to the property while the Wadleys pursued their own independent investigations." It says it has made "extensive efforts" to fix the problems.

The BBC understands the company could have received around £80,000 of public money via the ECO4 scheme.

The Wadleys have recently discovered in the paperwork submitted by Stellar for the scheme that their signatures appeared to have been forged several times by the company and a subcontractor. They also found a photo of an electric wall mounted heater that was not theirs.

"It makes me very suspicious about what the company were up to," says Mrs Wadley.

More than 300,000 homes had heat pumps, solar panels and insulation installed through the ECO4 scheme, which launched in 2022 for elderly and vulnerable people on low incomes. The £4bn scheme, which is now closed, was funded by household energy bills.

The amount installers could claim under ECO4 depended on how much they could improve a home's energy efficiency. Insiders tell the BBC that some overclaimed public funds by exaggerating poor efficiency ratings.

Sonny, a retrofit assessor, says many installers did this by staging photos of inefficient heating systems.

"Installers would go with panel heaters in the van and then glue a socket to a wall and then hang the heater. They'd then photograph it and take it to the next job," he says.

Stellar Energy says it no longer employs the staff who administered applications at the time, and rejects any suggestion that it "encouraged, or knowingly permitted" falsifying information.

Stellar was "not previously aware" of the panel heater allegation, adding: "We reject any suggestion that Stellar Energy would knowingly record information incorrectly in order to influence an ABS score".

Octopus Energy, which funded the work via the ECO4 scheme but did not carry out the installation, says it is "committed to helping put things right". The BBC understands Octopus is investigating the case and has passed findings to energy regulator Ofgem.

In April, the Serious Fraud Office arrested four people in connection with a "sophisticated conspiracy" involving three energy efficiency installers - which do not include Stellar - to fraudulently claim £44m in public money through the ECO4 scheme.

In October, the National Audit Office spending watchdog found major issues with 98% of homes that had external wall insulation fitted under ECO4.

In response, the government launched a "find and fix" programme, overseen by the organisation Trustmark.

Of the 30,000 homes with major issues, 3,500 audits have been completed since January, Trustmark says. However, it is unable to say if any homes have been fixed.

Under the find and fix programme, homeowners must give the original installer the chance to carry out repair.

But Mrs Wadley says: "I don't want them back in because they are incompetent and unprofessional."

Stellar says it "remains willing to provide reasonable assistance, where possible, to help bring the matter to a conclusion."

Trustmark says it has been "extensively involved with Becs Wadley's case at the highest level", and has commissioned a chartered surveyor to identify the scope of the work required.

A government spokesperson said the ECO4 scheme "ended after it clearly let families down", and that officials "are helping every household affected to access an audit as quickly as possible".