Banjofran your page isn't formatted properly ( it references your hard drive folders rather than your website which should be /images/blah.jpg ) but yeah I'll pass your details along to the 5 assessors I'm in contact with from my HSA Training class in Adelaide.
I haven't been able to get any bookings for the last week all I get is an engaged tone...
movin
Member
This just in folks, latest media release from Mr Garrett, hot off the press
MEDIA RELEASE
The Hon Peter Garrett MP
Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts
PG/13 19 February 2010
SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO COMMONWEALTH ENVIRONMENTAL
PROGRAMS
The Government today announced a series of changes to the administration of the environmental
programs to boost safety and improve environmental performance.
These changes are aimed at boosting safety for households and safety for the workers whose employment is funded by these important environmental programs.
The changes announced by the Government today include:
· The establishment of a new household Renewable Energy Bonus Scheme to replace the
Home Insulation Program and the Solar Hot Water Rebate.
· Significant changes to the Green Loans scheme to boost the effectiveness and
sustainability of the scheme.
The changes announced today will ensure the Government continues to help householders and business contribute to Australia’s efforts to transition to a low carbon economy.
The changes announced today put householders back in charge of the environmental products installed in their home.
These changes will benefit good green businesses and are bad for the shonky operators who have begun exploiting this market.
A new household Renewable Energy Bonus scheme
A new household Renewable Energy Bonus Scheme will assist households save money on power
bills and reduce their carbon emissions.
This new Scheme will replace the Home Insulation Program and the Solar Hot Water Rebate
Program both of which have been discontinued as of close of business today.
The Government’s focus is on the safety of households and tradespeople who will both benefit from the operation of this new scheme.
Under the household Renewable Energy Bonus scheme households will be able to receive a
rebate for the installation of ceiling insulation or a solar hot water system or a heat pump.
$1000 rebates will be available for ceiling installation and solar hot water systems and $600 rebates for heat pumps systems.
The new rebate for solar hot water systems and heat pumps will be available for systems installed after today.
This scheme will institute several key changes to the delivery of ceiling insulation including:
· Householders – rather than installers - will claim the $1000 rebate directly through the Medicare system.
· Introducing a new registration scheme requiring all installers to reregister, pay a cash bond, show evidence of meeting the training and skills requirements and provide certified quality assurance and occupational health and safety plans.
· Introducing a strengthened compliance regime in concert with State and Territory
occupational health and safety and fair trading authorities.
It is intended that the insulation component of the Renewable Energy Bonus scheme will come into operation by 1 June.
The Government’s objective remains to see insulation installed in up to 1.9 million homes, including those already installed under the discontinued Home Insulation Program, to be completed by 2011.
The Government will also be commissioning an external assessment of the proposed
implementation arrangements for the household Renewable Energy Bonus scheme and will
continue to provide oversight to the scheme during its operation.
This assessment will consider whether the arrangements and planned timelines proposed for the scheme’s implementation are sufficient to meet the Government’s expectations of safety.
In relation the discontinuation of the Home Insulation Program, installers will have seven days to claim outstanding rebates for work completed prior to close of business today.
The Government is prepared to consider appropriate transitional arrangements for legitimate industry participants and a hotline will be available.
The Government attaches particular priority on the impact of this announcement on workers.
Workers will have immediate access to assistance under the Government's Compact for
Retrenched Workers, meaning they will get immediate access to high level support, including access to retraining support and help in finding another job as quickly as possible. A hotline will be available for them too.
The Government will continue to roll out an existing electrical safety inspection program of all homes that have had foil insulation installed under the Program.
The Government will also be prepared to check as many houses as necessary which have
insulation installed under the Home Insulation Program.
The Government will also establish a new Home Insulation Program Review Office to handle all complaints and inquiries and immediately address risks created by unscrupulous operators and will appoint an independent reviewer to conduct a review of the Home Insulation Program design, implementation and delivery.
Significant Changes to Green Loans Program
The Government will help over an additional 600,000 Australian households tackle climate change through a re-designed and extended Green Loans program.
That is on top of the 360,000 assessments already available under the program, of which more than 270,000 have already been booked nationwide.
The re-design of the program will include:
· the discontinuation of the less popular loans component next month to provide for the
significant boost to assessment availability;
· a new cap of 5000 assessors, allowing up to an extra 1200 trained assessors to contract with the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts;
· a weekly cap of 15,000 assessment bookings and a daily and weekly cap per assessor of
three and five respectively to ensure greater quality and a more even distribution of work for assessors right around the nation;
· changed booking arrangements allowing only individual assessors to make bookings.
These new arrangements will apply to the end of 2010.
A new Green Start program
The Green Start program will now commence from 1 January 2011.
This Program will remain directed at helping low income households and those most at need improve their energy and water efficiency and help tackle climate change.
The Program will also include a web-based assessment tool for all households.
This Program will include in-home sustainability assessments, providing an ongoing pipeline of work for home sustainability assessors following the Green Loans program.
Details of the program will be finalised in the coming months.
Media inquiries: Ben Pratt, 0419 968 734
Buzzman
Member
fairsjk
see previous post:
The re-design of the program will include:
· the discontinuation of the less popular loans component next month to provide for the
significant boost to assessment availability;
Says discontinued from "next month" so anyone who wants a GL had better get in quick.
IgorD
Member
Hi All,
Peter Garret's lastest brainwave will give Assessors a weekly income of $600 less tax and Overheads until the end of 2010.After allowing the big Boys to rip the heart out of the Green Loans Program we are thrown the crumbs.
I wonder what Fieldforce made with it's direct link to DEWHA's booking computer?
Furthermore 2000 acredited Assessors will be axed and 2000 more still to be acredited will be culled.
4000 people on the Unemployment Pile.
So much for the Labour Party looking after the "Aussie Battler"
I have joined in a CLASS ACTION against DEWHA.
For some reason this site does not allow me to paste the link.I am propably doing something wrong.
When you do open the page look on the left hand side and find the register button. Click on that button and it will take you to the area.
http:/www.sustainabilityassessorsaustralia.com.au
Regards,
IgorD
KarenS
Member
" the discontinuation of the less popular loans component next month to provide for the significant boost to assessment availability;"
Somebody or group with some clout needs to explain to the author of the above statement that there are some problems with the premise on which it is based ...
1. The Loans component would be a helluva lot more popular if people who had had their houses assessed were actually in receipt of their Assessment Reports!!! You can't apply for a loan till you have your report, and there are plenty of anecdotes in this and other fora of people who were assessed in October, and who are still don't have their report! The wretched DEWHA needs to get assessments processed much quicker than they have to date!
2. It's probably far too late for this one, but the software which spits out the reports needs serious revision - there is a crazy statement somewhere on the "Eligible Items Certificate" (I think??) which says something to the effect that this assessment is a personalised one, tailored to 'your home', which is patent twaddle!!!
As long as the certificates permit you to do things which you have already done, or things which are impossible, then people are going to be at best bemused, and more likely angry or p%%%ed off, and they are less likely to apply for a loan.
(As an example, I have a recommendation to connect to natural gas all my cooking, hot water heating and space heating. I already have a gas stove and gas space heating, and a fully functional heat pump HWS. There is also a recommendation that I change my HWS to a gas-boosted solar one. (min 25 RECS) I'm afraid that 25 RECS is not sufficient incentive for me to change my heat pump HWS to anything - there are no other incentives from either state or c'wlth to do so, and I see no point, when in many other places they are trying to ENCOURAGE people to install heat pumps!!! The only cooking I do other than with natural gas is in the microwave; I have yet to find someone selling a gas-fired microwave oven ... ;-))
I have heard of others who have the "connect to natural gas" recommendation, and who live in the bush, some hundreds of kms from the nearest piped gas supply!)
3. For those who have been lucky enough to get one of these works of fiction, there have often been frustrating dealings with financial institutions. Many don't seem to know how the scheme was supposed to work, and I have seen tales elsewhere of people being told that they should get whatever work done, and present the invoices to the financial institution for payment; others have been told that the FI must approve what work is done, and similar idiocies! No wonder the "loans component" is allegedly less popular!!! In general, credit unions seem to be better than banks at dealing with the financial matters, and while some are reported to be exemplary, there are others which aren't necessarily good, just less bad!
4. And what strange thinking lead the author of the press release to think that increasing assessments without the loans is going to do anything other than employ a bundle of assessors????? While many assessors desperately need some employment, I was under the (mis?)apprehension that the scheme was actually devised to encourage people to green their houses, or decrease their energy use, or live more sustainably etc etc. Having someone go through the house and tell Joe McMansion-dweller what he can do to be greener, and then have an internally inconsistent and/or inapplicable list of suggestions sent to him, is unlikely to make anything useful happen at all. He's probably flat out trying to work out whether his new insulation is going to burn his house down, and working out how he can pay for the 77 Isolites he needs to deal with his downlights, and for someone to install them and fix the rest of the dodgy stuff in his roof!!
ghostgum
Member
We'll see if I'm one of the last (and few) to get a green loan. Assessment was 7 November last year. I called the department in early January to say that I hadn't received the report. They promised to send another one out, and would also send a PDF by email. A week later I got the PDF copy of the report, but the paper copy still hasn't arrived a month later.
I applied with my credit union for a green loan, and got the conditional approval from them on Wednesday (3 days ago, 2 days before the government announcement). They needed to make one phone call to the government department to verify that the BK number belonged to our property. They were Ok with a PDF of the report rather than a paper copy. Now I'm waiting for them to send out the paper copy of the loan contract, but I think they might be having some problems contacting the government department at the moment.
We have 7 days remaining for the green loan, so I'm hoping we get the paperwork next week, and can arrange for our solar system supplier to be paid before 28 Feb. If it all works, the supplier will get most of their payment before they do the installation. Solar subsidies have a history of getting caught up in bureaucracy and delays, so there's still a good chance of things falling in a heap.
Ghostgum, I think the total number of loans given out was just under 1,000 of 75,000.
Now that I finally see a payback of the nearly $5000 and 3 months spent waiting we have a future for the rest of the year and maybe beyond, they cut out the Green Loan so I can't put up panels !
The program extension provides work for 5000 assessors at $1100 a week (max) which gives some long term work for I reckon about 2500 of us, as I have been contracted for almost 6 weeks but wasn't able to get through to make any bookings. If you ran a call center then you didn't have to worry as you could just sit on a phone with an auto redial...
cool at home
Member
I got my Green Loan through Westpac - with whom I bank and have significant lending (mortgages and credit cards) - very easily. Didn't even ask to see the report (just wanted the BK number), no invoices, no additional information on my financials. I did have to sign an undertaking that I would only spend the loan on things within the EI certificate. Provisionally approved in about 8 hours and then a bit of faffing around to get the contracts signed, mostly because my husband and I couldn't get to the bank together.
questionman
Member
I had my assessment done back in October 2009 and until now have not received any report at all. I followed it up with phone calls to their department phone number and week after week, they kept on promising they will send the report soon, but until I have not received any. I suspect that they are deliberately delaying or intending not to send any report at all to low-income applicants, who they think will have no financial capacity to repay a loan, even without interest. They probably are giving priority to the ones with financial abiltiy to repay a loan. That is the reality - low income people dont have the funds to pay for a solar hot water system, solar panels and cannot qualify for a green loan. Basically , one has to have have some money first or the ability to earn some, before you can have any of these. Sad, but true.
cool at home
Member
Questionman re "I suspect that they are deliberately delaying or intending not to send any report at all to low-income applicants, who they think will have no financial capacity to repay a loan, even without interest."
That sounds like waaaaay too much organisation and conscious decision making for the GL program. They are just in dissarray.
Call your assessor and ask them to get a copy of the report to you from the calculator - they can save a pdf copy from the 'view report' function and email it to you. Bugger the policy - SOMEONE has to behave professionally.
KarenS
Member
Questionman,
Firstly, there is nothing in the stuff the assessor sends to Canberra which would enable DEWHA to know what sort of an income you have, other than that it is below the threshhold. DEWHA certainly aren't checking - they can't even answer their phones or prepare reports at all, never mind finding out about your income! (Where from??? You didn't give them permission anywhere to check with the ATO or Centrelink or your employer, so how would they find out in any case?);
Secondly, both this forum and many others report masses of people who were assessed in October and later, not having received their assessments yet - DEWHA has stuffed this up right royally, and they are WWWWAAAYYYYYYY behind..;
Thirdly, I am a 60+ widowed pensioner, had my assessment in late July, and got my report in September, before they were so far behind, but also before they had fixed some of the idiocies in the programme which produced the reports (my Eligible Items Certificate tells me to do 2 different things, in 2 different places, with my hot water service, one of which has wrong info in it, and the other of which is inapplicable...). I tick very few of the boxes for borrowing money - being over 60, single and on a pension doesn't usually make people want to lend you money, LOL;
Fourthly, the decision about whether or not you can repay a loan is made by the financial institution you approach to lend you the money - DEWHA has nothing to do with it. I have transferred my mortgage and credit card from 2 other FIs to the credit union where I do all my other banking, and because of their lower interest rates, my repayments will be lower, which means I can repay the Green Loan!
Fifthly, you can get a computer copy of your report from your assessor NOW (ring him/her and ask), which will have the magic BK number on it, and that is enough for you to go to your financial institution and at least start the process!
Sixthly, your Green Loan isn't just for solar panels or hot water - you can make substantial savings to your energy bills by doing things like putting heavy drapes and pelmets on large windows (stops heat loss in the winter), fixing draughts all over your house by putting sponge tape around the doors, putting Draftstoppas on the exhaust fans in your bathroom or toilet, and a whole lot of other small things which all add up. The GLs can also be used to install rainwater tanks and plumb them to your toilets and/or laundry, or to install greywater systems. If you have old single-flush cisterns on your toilets, you can get dual-flush ones. Given the general lack of water in WA, this might be something for you to consider.
If you have heat problems rather than cold ones, a more likely scenario in Perth, your GL could be used for putting sunblinds or awnings or shade sails or other shading on your house in general, or east or west facing windows in particular, so you can reduce your cooling costs. You may even be able to use it to install reverse-cycle air-con, if it is deemed appropriate to your circumstances.
So please don't whinge about being broke - I know where you're at, as I'm in the same place - just see if you can get the Loan process started before March 20, when they cut it off, if they don't change their minds again.
If you do get the GL, even of you only get 5K or 6K (although most people seem to be getting the whole lot), then draw it all down immediately, and stick it in one of those internet-only high interest accounts with one of the financial institutions offering them - a bank advertised by a Scottish comedian comes to mind - and leave it there for 2 or 4 months, and get a bit of interest on it yourself. It won't be enough to get Centrelink interested, but it will be something! It will take you this amount of time to decide what to do, get quotes etc, then have the work done, so you might as well be earning a bit of interest while that's happening! If you're as broke as you say you are, you need to work on getting every odd scrap of money you can, and here's one that isn't hard, and quite legit!!
greenvalue
Member
Latest update from the Green Loans web site [http://www.environment.gov.au/greenloans/ for full text]:
"Loans will be discontinued from 22 March 2010. Note that eligibility for loans under the Green Loans program is determined by financial institutions subject to the lending criteria of the financial institution being satisfied.
Enquiries:
The department has established a new line to handle enquiries. The phone number is 1300 778 451. If you wish to make an enquiry please phone this number."
I hope this can ease your stress a little...
Still unclear:
are all assessments done between the 19.Feb. (change of programme) and the 22.March (deadline for Green Loans) still eligible for a Green Loan?
Not sure at this stage... I haven't tried to make a new booking, so I haven't been able to ask (if the call centre staff actually know...)
What happens to people who still haven't received their reports by the deadline (22.March)? Will they lose their entitlement?
kalindriel
Member
Does that mean that we assume that people who have already done their assessments will still have the (i think) 6 months to apply for a loan? My reading of the media release was that on 22 March Greenloans would be discontinued and no one would be able to get one.
Do you think I have this wrong?
natsy
Member
I would like to reiterate what KarenS wisely wrote in relation to the statement in the green loan media release: 'the discontinuation of the less popular loans component next month to provide for the significant boost to assessment availability'.
These loans would be more popular if people actually received their assessment reports!
My assessment was undertaken on 20th August. I rang DEWHA pretty much every 2 weeks until they finally emailed it through on the 22nd December. My work collegue had her assessment on the 20th August and is STILL waiting for her report. She was literally on hold for 3 hours this morning trying to get through to the new call centre who cannot provide information and are just a glorified message taking service.
How the hell are people able to take up a green loan if they don't have a report. Of course the products haven't been popular.
Another friend applied for a green loan last week to extend her solar panel network. She submitted the loan application 6 months and 2 days following the assessment, but only 2 months since she got the actual report and managed to get quotes etc. The bank told her they couldn't grant the loan becuase the 6 months had expired! She pointed out to them that the DEWHA website said it has been extended for those with assessments undertaken prior to November, which the bank acknowldeged after looking at the website, however the bank said that as they have received no formal notification from DEWHA as to the change they still need to assess applications based on the old criteria!
What a farce!
I submitted my loan application this morning after chasing quotes for the last month and it is now 6 months and 2 days since my assessment. I am waiting to see what my financial institution says....
I seriously hope that people from government and DEWHA read these threads because they have taken a potentially great initiative and made it into a complete joke. Every person I know who has had an assessment undertaken would like to apply for a green loan to do works, however they are being blocked at all fronts by the administration nightmare.
From statements made from applicants on other forums (EM) you don't need a paper report to get a Green Loan . All you need is the PDF report and your booking number (BKxxxxx) both you can get from your assessor as he can download the PDF.
If your report is one of those that is 'lost' I recall reading somewhere you can quote your booking number and DEWHA can link your BK number to a report. Can't recall where that was though.
greenvalue
Member
A post on Whirlpool.net:
"Canada Aye writes -
Here's my Green Loan time line experience:
Booked Assessment – 11-Feb
Assessment took place – 16-Feb
Received PDF from Assessor – 19-Feb
Loan Application Online (Westpac) – 20-Feb
Loan Conditionally Approved – 22-Feb
May give some hope to those who are late to the party, or those yet to apply for the Green Loan having already had assessments.
geoffma replies:
I have an almost identical sequence as you, but about 2 weeks earlier."
So it seems to work with just the report copy... Heads Up!
Assessor Probs
Member
I was in the last HSA course to be conducted on the Gold Coast after trying to get onto others during December - the competition was so hot. Anyway, as it turns out the course ads were quick to emphasise the cut off date but told us nothing about the fact that we might not get all of our registration details in to ABSA before the 22 1 10. When I was running out of time in receiving my police check back (as were others) I rang ABSA and was told by one little lady there that I could not submit part of the application, all docs had to be included. She went on to tell me that they had more than enough applicants for the Green Loans Program anyway and it would be 'disingenuous' to those other members who were already in the program. I could not fathom her logic and told her so. I then attempted to find a Complaint Process on the ABSA website but none appear to exist. I wrote a formal complaint and after a second reminder got a flimsy reply back asking for a copy of the newspaper ad which relating to the course. Alison Carmichael completely missed the point - I was explicit in my complaint, I wanted to know why the trainers (who have generally seen $$ before ethics) were not required to also include details of the excess numbers of assessors in the system and the fact that there was a funding level which may or may not have been reached before our registrations were completed. I have registered with the Class Action Group, returned the email to ABSA cancelling my application (no refund as yet). Unfortunately, I am an older worker and was looking to the HSA program to get back into the work force. I wanted to send my resume with my application to show suitable background but was told that it was not necessary. To top all of that off the same training company have now emailed me encouraging me to get into another programme - I just wish DEWHA would take advice from a select group of people who represent a cross section of the industry types involved in this and then come out with a well constructed program that will work rather than continuing with the knee jerk implementation roll outs they are doing at the moment.
gazgc
Member
Assessor Probs,
I am also on the Gold Coast but I went into Brisbane around the same time to do my training because I didn't trust the people running Gold Coast training programs. They seemed to have just sprung up out of nowhere and were offering three day courses instead of the usual four.
I feel sorry for people in your position (not that mine is much better as I still dont have an assessor number either). I suspect the government will tell you that your training was inadequate and you should take that up with your training provider. That could include suing them for return of costs. But that sucks - it was the government who let these cowboys run training courses in the first place.
Meanwhile, I just saw this on the ABSA website:
"ASSESSOR and APPLICANT UPDATE
Monday 22 February 2010
Following changes to the Green Loans scheme, announced on Friday by Minister Garrett, ABSA has been contacted by a number of members for advice about the impact of these changes, including the cap on assessor numbers and bookings, and new contract terms and conditions.
ABSA was not consulted about these changes or given any advance warning by DEWHA before they were announced, nor has it been advised of any details since then.
We are therefore not in a position to give members advice at this stage, particularly as the state of play seems to be changing almost daily.
As advised on Friday, ABSA Chairman Wayne Floyd and CEO Alison Carmichael will be meeting with Minister Garrett’s office on Wednesday when they will be seeking information that will assist our members."
http://www.hsas.net.au/site/index.cfm
What a farce.
gazgc
Member
What I hate most about this Green Loans meltdown, even while it drives me to bankruptcy, is how the Murdoch press and the Lib/Nat denialists are making profit from it. If only Labor could be honest about this!
Garrett attacked for axing green loans
* From: AAP
* February 23, 2010 6:05PMEMBATTLED Environment Minister Peter Garrett is under attack on a different front - his axing of a major election promise to provide cheap loans to green up homes.
Before the last federal election, Labor pledged to grant no-interest loans of up to $10,000 to improve the energy efficiency of up to 200,000 homes.
The $300 million program was to fund measures like solar panels and low-energy lighting.
On Friday Mr Garrett axed the green loans.
The government is still running a "Green Loans Program" - but it no longer has any green loans.
Only 1500 households got a loan under the troubled scheme, which was supposed to run for five years.
Mr Garrett is facing calls for his resignation over the bungled roof insulation program, which was also axed on Friday. The opposition has accused him of incompetence.
Conservation groups are angry that the green loans scheme met a premature end.
Tony Mohr, climate change spokesman for the Australian Conservation Foundation, said families would miss out because of the decision.
Cheap loans would have saved households money while cutting their greenhouse gas emissions, he said.
"The government should have revamped and expanded the green loans scheme, not dumped it," Mr Mohr said.
He said making a home more energy efficient cost money upfront but saved money in the longer term, and households needed help to get started.
Australian Greens senator Christine Milne accused the government of botching the scheme.
"It is really a tragedy that a program that could and should have been so good for the climate, for household energy bills and for green job creation has been so disastrously mismanaged," she said.
The green loans scheme was plagued by problems.
The scheme was supposed to provide free home inspections by trained assessors, who could advise how householders could be more energy efficient. Householders were then supposed to be able to apply for the loans to act on the advice.
After the election the scheme was scaled back from 200,000 loans to 75,000 homes.
It was delayed for months, partly due to a software problem.
When it began, there was widespread criticism because many assessors were trained up, leaving some complaining they could not get work.
Others complained of problems with the scheme's administration. There were reports of rushed assessments. The government ordered two audits into the scheme.
Amid the claims the program was not working properly, just 1500 homes took out a loan.
On Friday, Mr Garrett announced the home assessments would continue, but the loans would be axed.
An extra 600,000 homes would get assessed, taking the total to almost one million homes, he said.
The government is still calling the scheme the "Green Loans Program" even though there are no loans available.
A spokesman for Mr Garrett said it had been up to householders whether they wanted a green loan.
"The loans component of the program was always a matter of householder choice, with the assessment report providing a range of options including low or no cost actions or other more expensive options," he said.
Some measures, like roof insulation or solar hot water heaters, were covered by other government rebates, negating the need for a green loan.
It would be a better use of the government's money to allow for more assessments, the spokesman said. This would allow households to get advice on how to improve energy efficiency.
If the Liberals win the next election because of this it will be a tragedy. But for those of us who have already lost so much by committing to the scheme, it's already a tragedy. Do something for us, Mr Garrett!!!
banjofran
Member
Absa message note no questions about FF
Following changes to the Green Loans scheme, announced on Friday by Minister Garrett, ABSA has been contacted by a number of members for advice about the impact of these changes, including the cap on assessor numbers and bookings, and new contract terms and conditions.
ABSA was not consulted about these changes or given any advance warning by DEWHA before they were announced, nor has it been advised of any details since then.
We are therefore not in a position to give members advice at this stage, particularly as the state of play seems to be changing almost daily.
As advised on Friday, ABSA Chairman Wayne Floyd and CEO Alison Carmichael will be meeting with DEWHA and Minister Garrett's office on Wednesday when we will be seeking the answers to the question list that follows. We will share the results of this meeting with you just as soon as possible.
Questions about Green Loans
1. The cap on assessments per week means that Green Loans assessment can only be a part-time occupation. Was this intentional?
2. How do the new contracts differ from the existing contracts?
3. Will assessors receive a signed copy of their new contract?
4. How will you decide who will be in the 5,000 and who will be out?
5. What do you recommend ABSA do with the 1,800 applications that have not yet been fully processed?
6. Will the call centre have a guarantee of service for response times?
7. Will there be an online booking tool? If so, when?
8. How many reports are outstanding?
9. Will all households with outstanding reports be able to access a Green Loan?
10. Will the $50 reward card ever be sent to householders?
11. Will assessments be audited? If so, when will this start?
12. How do you intend to manage the numerous claims for refunds for training and insurance from people who cannot access work?
Questions about ABSA?s role in Green Loans
1. Will DEWHA revise the Protocol for Accrediting Organisations to reflect the changes to the program?
2. Can ABSA have their promised copy of the PriceWaterhouseCoopers audit report?
3. Will DEWHA provide the Continuing Professional Development units promised July 2009?
4. Will DEWHA and the Minister consult in future with ABSA about major changes that will impact on assessors?
Questions about future programs
1. Will bridging programs be offered to assessors for work in GreenStart, Mandatory Disclosure and/or NatHERS?
2. Will DEWHA honour the promise to fund assessors to upgrade their qualification to the Certificate IV?
Stephen Gallagher
KarenS
Member
natsy,
re dates etc - Have you got an A4 booklet called 'Green Loans. What you could be saving? Program Guidelines 2009'??
I think my assessor left one with me, or maybe it came with the assessment. Anyway, it states, on p.5:
"Application conditions for a subsidised Green loan"
To receive a subsidy the applicant must:
2.2.19 Apply for a Green Loan from a participating Financial Institution WITHIN 6 MONTHS OF THE DATE OF ISSUE OF A VALID ASSESSMENT REPORT ...."
NOT within 6 months of the Assessment!!!!!!! Actually there isn't anything on the report, when you eventually get it, which says it is the date of issue of the report. There is the date it was submitted, but that has not a lot to do with anything. But the letter you get with the report is dated. and my financial institution thought that the date on the letter was the relevant one.
My dates were: Assessment - 26 July (at top of report, following the magic BK number)
Submitted - 6 August
Letter dated 27 August, (but not actually received till the 2nd week of September). So there is one month between the date of the assessment and the date of the letter accompanying the report.
I queried my credit union in about November as to how long I had to apply etc, and whether I needed quotes etc, as I hadn't even decided at that stage exactly what I would/could do. The credit union said that 27 August was the relevant date, and seeing as I no longer had the envelope, with the postmark about 3 weeks after that, 27 Aug was the date they would go by. They said just to apply for the full 10 grand, and see what happened, as you have a bit of time to draw it down anyway, if you get it, and if you don't use it all, you can always pay it back early!!!!!
And if you find yourself waiting for 3 months to get a tradie, or a custom made something, or water tank in the size and colour you want which is out of stock, or whatever, then you can draw down the money and stick it in a savings account, or short-term Term Deposit or somesuch, and earn a bit of interest on it while you wait!!
The booklet also says (p 3) that "to participate in the program, Financial Institutions will have to comply with the Department's requirements regarding the application of the subsidy as set out in the Financial Institutions Subsidy Deed."
I have not even attempted to google this document, nor trawl the DEWHA site or anything else, and I shan't speculate about whether it actually exists, and if so, whether FIs have copies of it, and if so, whether anyone in the place has read and/or understood it.
BUT if you can lay hands on a copy of this booklet, your friend should go and stick it under the nose of the person at the bank, and explain that assessment date has NOTHING TO DO WITH ANYTHING!! The REPORT issue date is when the counting starts!!
greenvalue
Member
Situation has changed again: on the 22.Feb. the banks were told by DEWHA that the funding for Green Loans has run out.
Most banks, like Westpac and ANZ, don't even process applications anymore which they had received before that date.
Bugger Peter Garrett and his broken promises.
And remember this at the next election!
natsy
Member
Thanks for the info KarenS!
I am actually still to receive a hardcopy of my report. After me hassling them over and over and using some advice gained on here I managed to finally get DEWHA to email it to me. But the email was just a pdf of the report (and has the assessment and submission date on the top) and an unpersonalised template ministers letter to householders that is actually undated.
I sent in my Green Loan application the other day and actually attached a copy of the covering email that is dated late December and the bank hasn't yet said anything about me being inelegible. They said they would get back to me today so will see what they say.
I will mention the other component to my friend. She actually didn't provide a copy of her report to the bank as they said they had direct access to the DEWHA database. It was after they linked into the database and saw her dates that they rejected her application. I will let her know about the letter date because I think she actually got hers in hardcopy. Hopefully that will help out. Thanks for the advice!
But come to think of it, when I was talking to the hopeless hotline people all of those times chasing my report they did tell me that it would be based on when I got the report rather than the assessment date. Perhaps they need to tell the banks too.
I have actually found it interesting the different ways that banks are administering this. My credit union will only write cheques directly to suppliers, or reimburse me once I provide a receipt for payment for the approved works. However another friend has been talking to the ANZ and was told that you just get the $10k deposited into your account and you have to 'promise' to spend it on what you said you would, sort of what you mentioned. I find this whole thing absurd too. What is going to stop people from getting the $10k and then using it towards a car or something else? Sure there is the looming threat of an audit, but seriously, how many audits are they going to undertake? And as I live in a rural location it is highly unlikely they would travel out to the sticks to check on how the money has been spent. But it is handy if you can actually shove it in a high-interest account and make some money at the same time though.
I told the guy at my credit union about what the ANZ was doing and he thought it was very strange and contrary to whatever policy they had signed on for. Perhaps it is all in the mystery 'Financial Institutions Subsidy Deed'?
Hopefully DEWHA get a good kicking over how this whole thing has been handled because it is such a great concept that has become a total shamble through administration.
natsy
Member
After freaking out seeing greenvalue's post I checked further with my credit union this morning.
This was the response from the loan officer:
"We are not permitted accept applications (including the Assessment Report) after March 6.
Settlements will cease after March 19(no exeptions)"
But my friend spoke to ANZ last night who said something similar to what greenvalue posted.
This whole thing is a complete mess! Who knows what to believe.
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