tradesmen and the elderly

[DE-ANNE]

my eldery mother need to get her gas fire fixed...she says there is a scheme with either aged concern or help the aged where they have their own tradesmen that are cheaper (and genuine) than other tradesmen..so the elderly do not get ripped off..
HAS ANYONE heard of this...?
Where do i find out about it?can anyone help please
Deanne

[Ethel]

I am not aware of either of these charities providing such a service - Help the Aged do provide a HandyVan service that installs safety equipment for the vulnerable such as smoke detectors and window locks but nothing else.

You can find local Corgi registered gas fitters in the locality here:
http://www.trustcorgi.com/findinstaller/Findan Installer.htmx

And there is HomeServe, a national service
http://www.homeserve.com/

You could also phone your mother's local council and ask if they have a register of approved or recommended gas fitters.

I can't think why a tradesperson would charge pensioners less, to be frank.

[gucciman]

hi

we do a lot of work via our local help the aged in birmingham, and yes your right they do keep a list of trusted tradesmen who charge a fair price and do a good job, it helps give the pensioners some peace of mind.

if your in the birmingham area let me know, if not just look up your local branch of help the aged.

the other thing to do is to look at the adverts for gas engineers in the yellow pages, look out for self employed people rather than large firms who can be expensive, and in general if you see an advert with the engineers home phone number and address rather than just a mobile number then you know you can trust them.

[bednobs]

in reading, age concern run such a scheme. In newbury, there is an agency of the council that do it. try both

[polyanna18]

In my area (Manchester) there is a scheme called Care & Repair (sorry don't know the number) but they come out and do small jobs for the elderly and infirm (my aunt who is 91 uses them quite a lot) and they don't charge for labour only for any parts they have to buy. They also recommend suitable tradesmen for other larger jobs like gas fire repairs, etc.

[bothofus]

Here in West Norfolk we have a scheme where you are given the contact number for the person you need to do the job, (plumber/roofer/carpenter) who has been vetted to give us oldies peace of mind. They aren't usually cheaper but you won't get ripped off. Go to your citizens advice bureau/age concern/local council offices. They keep a list of accredited tradespersons.