Customers of failed green energy company CES reveal ‘botched’ work ‘nightmare’

A woman whose home flooded during insulation works carried out by a now-folded green energy company says she has been left trying to “rebuild” her life.

Jane Wallbank is one of a number of customers of Consumer Energy Solutions (CES), which went into administration last Friday, who have told the BBC how “botched” and incomplete work has made their lives a “nightmare”.

The company retrofitted properties using the UK government’s ECO4 scheme, which provides grant funding to low income, vulnerable households for additions such as insulation, heat pumps or solar panels.

Administrator KR8 Advisory Limited has referred customers with problems to insurance-backed guarantee providers for advice.

Jane, 36, from Penrhiwceibr in Rhondda Cynon Taf, signed up for wall insulation with CES in October 2025.

She said she had no idea it would turn out to be “the worst decision [she] ever made” after the work caused her home to flood.

The mum-of-two works full time as an additional learning needs (ALN) support worker and also gets some Universal Credit, which is why she was eligible for the ECO4 scheme.

She described being left without heating for three weeks as tradesmen ripped out her radiators and put in insulation around her and her family, leaving the house “uninhabitable”.

“Coming home to dust, broken furniture, just tools everywhere. It was just an absolute nightmare,” she said.

Then, on the day the radiators were supposed to be going back on, she said she returned home from work to find three of the rooms flooded.

“I’ve never cried so much in my entire life, if I’m honest. It’s affected me emotionally – mentally, my health,” she said.

Jane still has damaged belongings and unfinished walls and has had to rip up all the flooring in the house due to the water damage.

She said her house was cold and her energy bills had tripled because of having to run heaters and dehumidifiers, as well as being fitted with smart radiator valves that do not work properly.

“I did not expect to have to literally rebuild my life. And I still haven’t,” she said.

Another CES customer, John Tustin, from Carmarthenshire, said he had been left with solar panels that are not connected and a costly heat pump after workmen left in mid-December and never returned.

He said it had been “stressful” for him and his wife Yvonne, who has motor neurone disease, and said their bills were now four times higher.

“We’ve got ugly scaffolding surrounding the house, obstructing the entrance way, so it’s somewhat of an obstacle for her to get in and out in the wheelchair,” said the 74-year-old.

“Our heating has to be on full blast because of her condition and I’m watching my electric meter tick around as fast as a double decker bus going downhill.”

John said he felt “frustrated” that there was a “vacuum” of information for CES customers.

“They’re not there anymore, the phoneline is dead, the office is shut. Who is now responsible for this work?” he added.

Llelo Gruffudd, 43, from Pwllheli in Gwynedd, had solar panels installed on his roof through CES in 2023 and said it was a “botched job from start to the end”.

He said contractors made holes in the roof’s rafters, causing water to leak into his living room, and a hole made in the side of his house was left open, meaning rats got into the building.

“The way we’ve been treated has been disgusting,” said the 43-year-old farmer who, despite receiving compensation from the company as a goodwill gesture, was still having issues.

“Because CES is no longer with us, we can’t really go back to them to say we still have this problem to this very day with the rats,” he added.

It is not known exactly how many people will have used CES, but ECO4 jobs were a big part of the business.

The latest accounts on Companies House from 2024 suggested more than £80 million in turnover from the scheme alone, with customers coming from across the UK.

A recent National Audit Office (NAO) report on the ECO4 scheme more generally found much of the work carried out had been botched – with 98% of homes undergoing external wall insulation and 29% of homes given internal insulation ending up needing remedial work.

The government said more than 30,000 homes in Britain had had sub-standard work under ECO4 and the Great British Insulation Scheme since 2022, with Energy Consumer Minister Miatta Fahnbulleh telling parliament it amounted to ”systemic failure”.

In last autumn’s Budget, the government said it would not extend the scheme and in response to CES’s closure said: “The ECO and GBIS schemes were not delivering value for money.”

Liz Saville-Roberts, Plaid Cymru MP for Dwyfor Meirionnydd, is now calling for an investigation into CES as well as a more detailed look at the ECO4 scheme, which will end in March.

“There are people who’ve contacted me to say that they don’t have hot water, that they don’t have heating, that their homes have been left in a terrible mess,” she said.

“They’re facing possibly thousands [in] costs so my first question is who’s going to step in to support these people now that has gone under? Then there’s wider questions about how do you safeguard people in these situations?”

A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said the government would now back a new scheme.

“We are instead investing an additional £1.5bn into our Warm Homes Plan, taking it to nearly £15bn, the biggest ever public investment to upgrade homes and tackle fuel poverty.

“We are doubling down on support for home upgrades and will set out our plans to help households, and support thousands more clean energy jobs.”

But Jonathan Bean from Fuel Poverty Action said that needed to be focused.

“The new Warm Homes Plan must include significant funding for ECO4 remediation work, and all future retrofit work should have a full independent inspection before money is paid to the contractor.

“Without this, billions more will be wasted, and more homes damaged, due to the lack of skilled workers and poor quality control.”

Jimmy Saunders, managing director of KR8 Advisory Limited, the appointed administrators for CES said: “The company had faced a number of financial and operational challenges in recent times which were compounded by the recent decision announced by the UK Government not to extend the ECO4 scheme beyond March 2026.

“We will be working with the relevant authorities to support former employees in seeking new employment and in claiming their redundancy entitlements.”

Advice for customers on insurance-backed guarantee providers was posted on the CES website.