Margaret Beveridge, 73, has been hit with the crippling repayment order over claims which she says have been totally discredited.
Margaret is facing a heat pump nightmare over £19,000 demand from Ofgem – because she improved her double glazing(Image: Daily Record)
A pensioner is facing a heat pump nightmare after receiving a £19,000 demand from energy watchdog Ofgem – because she improved her double glazing.
Margaret Beveridge has been hit with the demand after the regulator claimed her windows didn’t match the type she declared when receiving a grant for a new heating system nine years ago.
But 73-year-old Margaret, who lives alone in Kilmaurs, near Kilmarnock, insists she only upgraded her glazing after the machine was fitted – and claims she is being punished for making eco home improvements.
She will be almost 80 by the time she finishes paying back the crippling and “totally unexpected” debt.
Despite her MP, Labour’s Lillian Jones, helping on the case, Margaret said Ofgem appear determined to claw back much of the £33,000 eco grant she was offered in 2017.
She said: “It’s consumed my life for three years. It has been a nightmare and has reduced me to tears at times.
“Dealing with Ofgem has been like dealing with robots. They won’t listen to any arguments, they refuse to share information.
“They said it wasn’t in the public interest to tell me how they’d calculated this £19,000. When I asked for the documents under freedom of information, everything was redacted and made no sense.
“I’ve been punished for trying to go green and help the planet.
“I’ve done nothing wrong, the contractor’s done nothing wrong. It feels like I’m the victim of a clawback scheme. They’ve a hole they have to fill and they’re trying to fill it. I’m sure I’m not the only one.”
Margaret secured funding from the UK Government’s £23billion Renewable Heat Incentive scheme, which ran from 2011-2022 and helped households and firms switch to green heating.
She had her ground source heat pump fitted in spring 2017 and an energy performance survey was carried out. In June that year, she decided to upgrade her windows.
In 2023, she was selected for a random audit by Ofgem and a surveyor sent. A new Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) was drawn up that gave her a slightly different score than in 2017.
Because it was different, and Ofgem claimed her windows had been misrepresented in 2017, they told her she must repay £19,000.
Independent surveyors who reviewed the second EPC in 2024 found it wrong and withdrew it from the public domain.
However, Ofgem is still insisting on repayment, despite the case even being raised at Westminster.
Lillian Jones, Labour MP for Kilmarnock and Loudoun, said: “I am disappointed and disillusioned by Ofgem’s decision regarding my constituent, Margaret Beveridge.
“She acted entirely in good faith, making a sensible choice as recommended by the professionals and entirely within the guidelines.
“The fact that Ms Beveridge is being penalised is deeply troubling, particularly when the regulator that is tasked with protecting consumers appears instead to be pursuing a pensioner for a wholly unreasonable sum she cannot possibly afford
“I urge anyone who has been similarly affected to come forward so the true scale of this issue can be exposed.”
An Ofgem spokesman said: “Our handling of this case has been reviewed by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, which has upheld our decision.
“We know these situations can be difficult for those affected, and we will continue to work with the resident to resolve this matter as fairly and promptly as possible.”
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