Firm ordered to pay £48,000 for loft foam scam
George King/BBCA company has been ordered to pay tens of thousands of pounds after selling elderly homeowners foam loft insulation they did not need.
Riva Surveyors Ltd and manager and salesman Justin Brason pleaded guilty to 29 offences of engaging in a commercial practice which was a misleading action.
Ipswich Crown Court heard they used cold calling techniques to sell insulation to people in Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex, and Cambridgeshire from July 2019 to February 2020.
The firm was told to pay £48,871 in fines and compensation, while Brason, 45, of Brambling Close in Stowmarket in Suffolk, received a 12-month jail sentence which was suspended for 18 months.
Graham Crisp, head of Suffolk Trading Standards, which led the investigation, said: "This was a deliberate and sustained campaign of deception.
"Victims were made to feel frightened and pressured into paying for unnecessary and sometimes damaging work."
The court heard the company's employees and Brason would visit the homes of "vulnerable" residents claiming to offer free loft inspections.
Once inside they would falsely report that the properties had serious roof defects, such as damp, mould or infestations, and costly repairs were needed.
They would tell them the work was urgent and urge them to install spray foam insulation at vastly inflated prices, claiming their roofs would become structurally unsound if left untreated.
Trading standards said some of the problems cited were exaggerated or entirely fabricated and, in reality, the spray foam insulation sold was unnecessary and not required.
'They were preyed upon'
Out of 20 victims — many of whom were elderly and living alone — six went ahead with the work, suffering significant financial losses.
Two of the homeowners later had to remove the insulation at additional cost so they could remortgage or sell their homes.
One victim's family said: "The anxiety caused by this had a severe impact on my parents' health — they were preyed upon by an unscrupulous person with no morals.
"I hope this outcome acts as a deterrent to others who destroy the lives of elderly people in this way."
Riva Surveyors Ltd was fined £850 for each of the 21 offences, totalling £17,850, and ordered to pay £31,021 in compensation to the victims, both within 12 months.
Brason admitted eight counts of engaging in a commercial practice which was a misleading action, ordered to pay £1,500 in compensation, and given 200 hours of unpaid work to complete.
Lord Michael Bichard is the chairman of National Trading Standards, which worked alongside Suffolk County Council's trading standards officers on the case.
"The scam stripped homeowners not only of their savings but also caused huge emotional distress, leaving victims with long-lasting anxiety," he said.
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