domestic energy assessors

A recruitment website is advertising this as a £30-40K p.a job.  Take a look at this joke! 

"The course does cost from £1,600 to £2,600, depending on building size and levels, but you will definitely earn this back within the first two months. There is no catch, this a genuine career.

This is a new career due to Government rules that have been brought in recently for all buildings to have energy assessments and currently the UK does not have enough assessors to go round for the amount of work required."

A total and utter misrepresentation!

1) There must surely be some law we can get them on for this blatant misrepresentation of the opportunities for DEA's.  

2) Training providers should ALL have to wait for their course fees until the DEA has made a profit of amount.  If there is that much work out there (as they all say) they will only have to wait 4 or 5 weeks! 

How many would put THIER money where their mouth is?!!!

3) A powerful Union for us DEA's would be great in an ideal world but as we all know this is far from an ideal world.  Imagine if 10,000 of us said we will unite and work for no less than £70/EPC.  The other 3-4,000 would accept all the work, at cut-price rates. 

I can't really see how this situation is ever going to improve with so many DEA's still hanging on to part-time scraps and new ones being trained every day.

*Posted by Manuel on behalf of DEA-CON

Thanks for registering me but I won't be adding a business listing

I am one the many who has packed it in and am now feeling cheated by the whole DEA thing, primarily the training provider (& no doubt others) who have totally misrepresented the situation: fees, availability of work, number of DEAs, etc.

I can just about stand the loss of £4k but there was a young couple on my course, both working in a restaurant, must have put their entire savings into DEA training & will likely never get it back or see any benefit - their dream just ruined.

I know the trainers aren't responsible for the slump, but they are continuing to get rich while worsening the situaton for exsiting DEAs

My partner started a DEA course and then our daughter became ill.  We informed the HIP trainining company that she coud not procede on the course and their reply was we had to find a replacement to get a proportional refund.  I am looking for evidence of clams against HIP providers but cannot find any, can you help.  We are looking to take them to the small claims course.

Regards

Stotty-cornwall

As much as this may hurt some of your feelings....

I was one of the first to qualify as a DEA. Saw the governments upcoming plans for HIPs and thought, like most of you, that this was a genuine, government backed, opportunity.

I'll not bore you with the governments ludicrous efforts in launching HIPs, but just say, I realised early on, before the original launch date, that the government were not doing a very good job of rolling this out. In fact, I'd go as far as saying that, had this been a private sector initiative, it would not have launched and they would all have been out of a job. But, what can you do.

As we all know, it gets worse doesn't it! The housing market has been on a steady decline and with the training companies promising untold wealth for becoming a DEA, we also have a massive influx of people training up, saturating the market.

So what does this all spell out? Well, if you have enough common sense to read the writing on the wall, it means, less work and more competition, which means YOU, yes you DEAs out there, should stop complaining about fees and wake up to the reality of our situation. These are tough times and business is business. The only way you're going to survive is some good honest hard work and having a head for business.

The market will recover one day and I plan on being around when it does. Do you?

S

I found this site today after having attended an 'interview' with a Training Provider in Birmingham this morning.

I found them to be very sales driven, telling me I was ideal for the role and their 'Recruitment Director' kept saying "I think you should do it"... well of course he would, it pays his wages!

In the end I turned round and said I wanted to think long and hard about the financial commitment and I'd get back to him.

They want £3,965 for a four module training course which would take place over 8 days. He told me that I could earn that money back in less than a month! (Now I knew he was full of ****!) That would mean being able to do about 40 in one month (working on the assumption I'd earn £100 per report).

He also told me to charge £50 per bedroom of the property... therefore charging most properties in my area £150-£200!! I know for a fact that nobody would pay that so it is unrealistic to expect this level of income. I also know how quiet the property market is at the moment so assuming I even got to do 1-2 a week, it would still take me over a year to pay it back.... 'Nonsense' he said... you can earn your course fees back in a month.

They were full of promises of fast-tracking me so that I was qualified ahead of 1st October - something I am sure they tell everyone.

Whilst I was in the interview, he took a call from someone who he told me was a single mother who had struggled to raise the money for the course and she had finally managed to scrape it together and would be taking the course over the coming months because she wanted to generate a new life and a new career path. I wish I'd grabbed the phone and told her to save her money and spend it on something useful!

I often think that if something sounds too good to be true then it usually is. It seems that this is the case with becoming a DEA and the training providers are only out to line their own pockets

Hi Guys,

I agree about the need for a union, at present DEAs seem to be running around without direction gladly accepting any scraps offered to them. I am in contact with some DEAs from my training course and one recently informed me that he is now doing EPCs AND floorplans for £35 each plus Lodegement fees.

I don't think I need to state how much the provider is making on this service... at this rate HIP and EPC providers will soon be running DEA 'sweat shops' across the UK. It's a far cry from £100 per EPC I was told 14 months ago.

I agree with all comments made . I am a qualified DEA and so is my partner we were accreditted Sept 2007 and have only had a minimal amount of work. 

The suggestion of a DEA Union would be a perfect idea to keep the epcs at a realistic price so that every DEA could make an honest living and to hit back at the pack providers that are controlling the market through trying to be competitive with other pack providers. 

Why should DEAs be made to work for peanuts? As for the panels reducing the cost of an epc from £45 to £40 that is ridiculous.

I myself think that we as DEAs should unite and not wait to see if or when other DEAs give it all up and return back to their previous jobs.

I would join a DEA union if it meant that we could make a decent living out of producing epcs.

THATS WHAT I THINK

I agree with the vast majority of comments posted to this site. Whilst trainers continue to run DEA courses uninterrupted  in the absence of any government regulation/intervention, I feel that we are still months and months away from turning the corner in this sorry saga.

The ingredients are there for all to see - market depression, lack of confidence across the board, falling property prices, looming economic recession, not to mention the credit crunch which continues to ripple out from across the pond the result of which makes lenders very picky who they lend therir money to. All of which contributes to the impact we are all experiencing.

It can be reasonably argued that the courses should cease with immediate effect. This short termist approach that simply lines the trainers pockets isn't doing anybody any favours in the long term - those coming into the profession with their sights still set (if they believe the literature) on earnings of £50,000 plus a year, nor  those of us who for the relatively short time we've spent doing this job have gleaned a good sense of the stark reality.

I qualified last summer, believing the propaganda that being a DEA would be a great new well paid profession. After a lifetime on the road in commercial insurance and mortgages, it seemed a great way to take me up to retirement.

Trained with Morgan Whittaker (they went bust), through Habitus and employed after qualification by them, but got very little work (they went bust), registered with various DEA panels, contacted loads of Estate agents, now average 4 or 5 calls a month from just one panel. What a waste of time and money!

I've just come back from a 70 mile round trip DEA call in which the householders told me they'd cancelled the call earlier in the day - but the panel hadn't told me, so not only have I wasted three hours, but also paid over £10 for petrol for the privilege. The call would have paid me  perhaps £50, less petrol, less fees, so perhaps an optimistic £25!  

If you're thinking of training as a DEA - walk away now - it's a waste of time and money, and with no sign of any real improvement in the housing market, and the vast majority of EPC call providers already committed to who they'll use, think of it as a non-starter.

If there were enough calls and each one paid even £75 (let's forget the £100/£120 we were initially quoted) it would be a great job - but I'm daydreaming.

Now call me naive if you wish but I prefer to think of it as optimism - I'm also one of the few who then wasted another £4000 undertaking a Level 3 Commercial EA training course with a well known establishment. I just about got through the week long course, but believe me it was much more intensive and complicated than I expected, not particularly in regard to energy efficiency, most of which can be mastered with experience, but with regard to the computer literacy and general background property knowledge needed.

On a course of around 25 people, perhaps three of us were qualified DEA's, the rest were surveyors, planners, architectural assistants, building engineers etc. - people with much more technical background knowledge. (And I've been a commercial insurance surveyor - so not totally inexperienced.) If I'd known this I wouldn't have wasted my money, but this did not come out at the open seminar I attended or in any pre-course literature. Yes, I know, buyer beware, but I do feel that this could have been made clearer.

I could have continued on to the completion of the Commercial Level 3 qualification had I been willing to devote the next four or five months to the remainder of the home-based course work and portfolio building, (and I didn't feel this had really been made clear before the course), but being only 2 years from retirement this seemed too heavy going and by the time Commercial Energy Assessments at level three (ie most of the smaller commercial properties) really get going which could be well after the 1 October, it wasn't likely to be much use to me, and to be honest at my age I've better ways of spending my spare time. Life is full of experiences isn't it!

I wish you well with your campaign. It really annoys me to see newspapers running adverts for DEA and CEA training. They are so misleading! Perhaps you should be approaching the Advertising Standards body.

Let's hope some business comes out of the lettings industry, and let's hope the Conservatives get in and drop HIPs leaving just freestanding EPC's - see I'm still optimistic, but probably naive as well.

Rich

I recently attended an introductory talk at BRE just before the implementation of the commercial EPC (I have decided not to spend any more money on upgrading from DEA). 

In the lecture theatre in front of a large audience I raised the issue of BRE continuing to promote the DEA training courses using the now well-worn promises in their promotional material and suggested that it was misleading and that they (BRE) should discontinue the courses.

I received no support from other DEAs in the room, in spite of all the ones I had spoken to beforehand  having complained of not being able to get work. The official stance is that no actual promises are made, and BRE clearly intends to make as much money as possible running training courses until the bubble bursts. 

It's good to see a truthful site. I think that the philosophy behind the policy to introduce EPCs is basically sound, it's just rather unfortunate that the implementation has been so badly managed.

Well done,
Michael. 

All I can say is that its a good job that I do not depend on Energy Assessments to make a living because I would have been in a soup kitchen by now!

There is very little business unless you are happy to work for nothing!

Fully agree with the comments made regarding too many assessors, training companies still pushing DEA courses and milking the system, fees being pushed down by large pack providers and of course the downturn in the housing market and the economy in general. 

But, I believe that once confidence is restored work will be forthcoming, and that we (DEA's) need to hold our nerve and weather the storm.  Work will eventually come, and I suspect that after taking all aspects into account there will the ability to earn a modest income, but not the high levels indicated in the press and as advertised on some training sites.

The negative comments being made by some members (rightly or wrongly) leads to a 'knock on' effect and ulimately leads to dispondency - are there any members about who can share some positive comments?  I have managed to get some limited work from a local solicitor, and whilst it is very few and far between it is enabling me to become established, obtain more experience thus become more expediant, and gives me encouragement for the future. 

I've no doubt it wont be a quick fix and it will possible be 12 months or more before the market is once again stable but i for one will invest in my accreditation for a further 12 months, which considering my costs to date is a small price to pay!

However, if DEA Local also believe that there are now ample DEA's and that too many courses still being advertised why then are they promoting them on the Home Page? 

I agree whole heartedly with those advising caution before embarking on the training road in fact I would (knowing what I now know) actively discourage any one from even considering it as a viable proposition in short to medium term.

Accredited at the end of 2007 I have just (in May 2008) reached a milestone in that I have now processed in excess of 10 EPCs all of which have come from a Panel.

Said panel has just reduced fees from £45 down to £40 siting in justification a need to be more price competitive in order to increase volume.

It seems to me that we are all suffering the same malady and that the solution lies in our own hands. It is a fact that ONLY qualified and accredited DEAs or HIs are legally able to produce an EPC.

Currently there are 7,000 plus of us able to fulfill this legal requirement. 7,000 plus individuals with a common voice would have a significant impact.

It seems to me that we should use the power of our numbers and simply refuse to work for less than an economically viable fee.

One comment suggested a DEA union - Why not? or at least a national association strong enough to apply pressure on behalf of its members. WHAT DO YOU THINK???

Having read all the posts from other DEA's, I agree that everything said rings true. 

I too was lured by the false claims of the training companies that there was BIG money to be earned and that the government was crying out for qualified DEA's to fill a "shortage gap", what a load of bull. 

I thought long and hard about the career change, I was between jobs and was looking for a new start.  I had saved some money to purchase a new kitchen and whilst looking on the net for new jobs, I came across the (convincing) ads for DEA's. 

I decided to take the plunge and purchase myself a new career.  I contacted the training company and was told I must hurry as the course I wanted to attend was almost full with only 1 place left and that I could fill it if I was quick. 

I agreed and parted with my new kitchen, hoping for a fantastic return (how wrong was I), might as well have thrown it into the wind.

When I arrived at the training venue, there were 3 empty seats in the room and the other 9 of us at the venue, we all found out had been given the same sales pitch to get us to sign on the course.  We were all livid of course and told the trainer who just smiled and said that he would have to have a word with his company to tell the sales dept to stop using such misleading tactics. 

It was evident at the end of the first day of training that the promise of lucative jobs was a thing of the past and by the trainers own submission, we would all struggle to find work, he knew this as he was a qualified DEA, who, as he could not get any work had joined the company as a trainer himself to make a living.

I qualified in January 2008 and to date I have completed 1 EPC, like all the DEA's out there I have mailshotted, cold called, telephoned and registered with HIP providers, but with no joy. 

As it is for me now, I'm working for a bank in a customer call centre and my kitchen is still not renewed, but on the brighter side I can get a cheap loan.

My message to anyone thinking of becoming a DEA:-

DO NOT DO IT, THERE IS VERY LITTLE WORK.

Neil Grifffiths DipDEA (for what it's worth)

It is true that there are too many DEAs at present. I wonder how many will be practicing full-time this time next year? I would hazard a guess at half the number at present.

We run a Home Information Pack business and often receive phone calls looking for advice on whether to enter the business; we don't try and put people offer as there are certainly advantages to the HIP and EPC business though trying to paint an accurrate picture of current conditions for DEAs.

I have written a post on this issue over at my blog examining this further and welcome comments and suggestion to improving the situation. Should I train as a domestic energy assessor?

If you are thinking of becoming a DEA think again. I have been trading since September 2007 as a DEA/ HIP provider. My figures are low and I struggle every month to pay my bills and keep the wolfs from my door. 

The money I have spent on training and setting up a business could have worked for me in some other way without all this upset, anger and worry.

At the time of training all these problems were not apparent in the industry of Home Information Packs. The Government have got this very wrong and are continuing to get it wrong, all training courses should be stopped and DEA's should have more control over there pricing for EPC's.

DEA's have shown they are not out to make a quike buck there are far to many of us still trying to secure work for ourselves rather than jumping ship.

Pack providers have done nothing to help DEA's they have cut the EPC fee down to as little as £45.00 and less in some cases so that they can keep there HIP price competative and still keep there profits up.

So if you are thinking of becoming a DEA think again.

I now have to put my suit on and find some work for this week.

Greg Hurst DEA woking/guildford and any other part of the country within a one and half hour drive.

1) Anyone going into this industry thinking it was going to be a bed of roses after the initial setbacks was mistaken

2) Anyone going into this industry after August of 2007 was most likely mistaken unless they had some decent contacts

We are clearly dealing with some major issues. Namely:

• Too many DEA's trained up
• A poor housing market
• Unprofessional DEA's.

Yes, that's right! There are many comments on this site about DEA's living from "scraps" etc. This is a problem of their own making.

If a DEA is prepared to accept a job for £45 and then travel 50 miles to do it, then this is clearly an error on the part of the DEA. Much better to turn the work down on price even if it means someone else getting the work.

If enough DEA's turn around to the cowboy suppliers and refuse to work for them, they will have to either put their fees up or go out of business. It is really that simple.

The price is already governed by the DEA's. It's just that some of them are being rather silly about the fees they are willing to work for.

Why keep the fees higher you ask?

Ok, here goes.

Increasing fuel costs, Insurances, Lodgement Fees, Accreditation, CPD for a start. But here is the most important thing:

Imagine you are a DEA doing 6 epc's a day. You  have to do 6 a day because you are only getting £40 for each one. You are going to make a mistake. Okay, chances are this mistake might go unnoticed.

But... make enough of them and one of them will get noticed and then (hopefully) that's you out of a job and it serves you right for overburdening yourself in the first place.

However, it doesn't stop there. You have now damaged the industry. The public lose faith in DEA's and this comes to the attention of the government at ministerial level. They won't look at the route causes they will simply remove the problem. That, in this case, is the selfish DEA who insists he has to do 6 epc's a day for £40 each. Wake up. Please.

Now imagine you are a DEA doing 3 epc's a day. All of a sudden, there is twice the amount of work to go around because instead of doing 6 epc's a day, each DEA is only doing 3 per day. You can now produce a quality EPC, free of mistakes.

The industry gains some respect. You hold out for a decent fee (say £65 for each one) and there you have it - £195 a day with enough time built in to sort out your credit control, do some business development and have a look at a bit of CPD. Also, you are earning enough money to see you through some of the leaner times when the property market is having problems.

Make sense? it does to me.

As for joining the profession, I would say that unless you have some decent contacts who will be able to supply you with work, it is probably not worth it unless you are looking for a part time career and are prepared to pay a large fee to get trained.

I totally agree with the comments posted.

When I intially though about training to be a Domestic Energy Assessor in 2007, I was sold the dream of this new industry ... but with delays in implementation and the sheer number of qualified assessors the industry is barely viable if you're just providing EPCs.

I'm in contact with numerous assessors from all across the country and a good week for them is 2-3 assessments, earning them just over £100 after costs.

I remember being told EPCs would be over £100 a time and in fact they were for about 2 weeks, but the competition amongst DEA's has just sent prices tumbling.

I recently heard that one provider was paying £32 per EPC! - I can not begrudge any DEA working for such a fee... we all have our burdens and bills to pay but the lack of unity and singular voice has been to our collective detriment.

With DEAs ever willing to accept less and less for an EPC the pack providers and other associated middlemen are laughing all the way to the bank.

Worse still is on going marketing and advertising by training providers, which I believe is totally misleading, if a DEA training now manages to earn £40k+ doing EPCs then I need that DEAs number.

Look on forums and talk to professionals out there before giving up your hard earned cash chasing what could become a nightmare.

There was an EU directive to control and reduce energy use and Co2 emmissions at home. The government have hijacked the processed so they can obtain data free on dwellings in the country, not to reduce energy.

The market is a free for all and is letting DEA compete against each other without any control on numbers being qualified and satisfying demand . The price is dropping as a result in any areas , which makes it diluted with your earnings potential.

By default the only people making any money are the traniners and a total lack of control by Governement through the department of Communities and Local Government.

It is an outrageous situation and could be viewed as a government Con.........It is time that a Union is Formed by all the DEA to control the market, share the EPCs and control the price on the market . . . I hope you all agree.

There may be grounds to sue the governtment here and training providers if the market is not put under control ... ;

Well, I've tried mailshots, cold calling and telephoning solicitors, estate agents and letting agents. Advertising in local papers, even shop windows! The jobs are all sewn up. I see the look on their faces and hear the tone in their voices when I announce that I am a DEA. 'Oh no! not another one!'

The private seller and landlord seems reluctant to use an independent DEA, most seem to feel 'safer' with a branded organisation even though it costs a lot more. I even offer to arrange the full HIP at no profit to me, just for the EPC work. That too seems to attract suspicion, perhaps it smacks of desperation!

I qualified in September 07 and have managed about 12 jobs, not counting the ones 'friends' and family have got me to do on the cheap. For the proper jobs the fee has dropped to £45 (take it or leave it - The Energy Portal) and I had to travel 50+ miles. Net profit about £15 for 5 hours work. Professionals? we are treated and paid like servants simply because there are far too many of us.

I reckon the market can realistically support about 2000 DEAs and they wouldn't all be full-time and that number will slowly decrease.The rental market will be a short-term bonus for the lucky few who either know someone in a letting agency or got in first! Good luck to you guys, no sour grapes.

Tenants normally move on , on average, every 6 months to a year, so these jobs will all but disappear very soon and recycle every ten years. Meantime we scratch around gratefully grovelling for peanuts and crumbs.

It is demeaning and we have been grossly mislead by organisations that should be of a higher moral calibre, like BRE and others who are still extolling a career as a DEA. Shame on them all, they know how hopeless it is for us. But think of the money they are coining in from us mugs and the hapless newcomers!

How many more innocent enthusiastic candidates will go in bright-eyed and keen clutching their shiny new laser rules and clipboards to learn the ropes only to find they have wasted a year of their lives and a lot of money. We should be able to sue them for misrepresentation. Well, why don't we?

There is a need for a maximum of 3,500 DEAs in Britain.  There are over 11,000 ahead of you in queue for those jobs.  Until the current DEAs give up or people start moving house every other week there aren't going to be many openings for you and those nice training people's smiles will be a painful memory.

If you are short of a hobby take up sailing, join a gym or do something equally beneficial because an expensive hobby is all being a DEA will be.

Jonathan Parkes DEA (though mostly making money in metallurgy)
www.assess-energy.org 

PS Those of you thinking that the rental market will change all this?  Rental Certificates last for 10 years so dream on.
PPS Actually think the kind of classic car you can buy for £2,500!  That'll be something you can sell on afterwards too!

I thought long and hard before selecting a training company. This was going to be expensive, funds limited, no track record as an 'industry' and could be kicked into touch at any time by our Government. My training company was expensive, basic fee £2,950, then there's the intangible costs and about 1,000 miles of travel to attend courses etc. They were good, supportive and they got me through to my new career. By the time I got set up with my website and felt equipped to tackle the market, the property world was belly up, the streets were filled with unemployed DEAs and the boat I had missed was over the horizon.

Being independant and self employed is both exhilarating and challenging. It is easy to get despondent, it would be easy to pack it in, but I didn't expect it to be easy to succeed. I have to press on, keep making those calls, talk up, not down and believe the future will be brighter.

But for pity's sake, stop all this training malarkey. I recently attended a seminar where all the training providers were banging on about their wonderful courses, now focusing on commercial work of course, and seeking candidates prepared to stump up another £3K.

Please discourage anyone you like from joining in this fiasco. Those of us still hanging in there don't need more cannon fodder going to the Training companies, it's time that they felt the draught.

I suggest we stick together, join your local DEA/HI group, attend meetings, share ideas and draw strength from each other . It can be mighty lonely trying to get by on your own - but you are not alone, sadly, there's loads of us in a similar situation, some will pull out for alternative work, but the rest will press on and make it work.

Good luck to all, except the ones on MY patch. Earl Ware.

Like everyone else I have spent £2500 in training and more recently £2800 with a HIP provider for an exclusive territory with the promise of full marketing back up and contracts with at least 5 estate agents.

It is now 4mths since I passed the DEA exam and 6wks with a new HIP provider and I have received ZILCH, no work or enquiries.

We should all do what we can to discourage training providers from continuing to miss sell and not just for our own reasons to prevent poor unsuspecting candidates going down the same route.

I now blame myself for even wanting to develop a business reliant upon the least respected trades - Estate Agents!!!! Soloicitors!!!! and now HIP Providers.

Not only do we have to survive on nothing or meagre droppings from panels we are expected to pay disgusting amounts of money for CPD courses with the veiled threat that our respective accreditaion bodies will drop us if we don't.

We need to get tough or get out. Organise ourselves with emails/letters and bombard Panels, Government and Accreditation bodies. This will only work if we are all in general agreement about levels of work and rates. 

Thanks for all your hard work, times are very tough and I now only take work around a full time job back in the world of distribution. Lets hope things will improve or like many others we just forget the whole thing, best of luck!.

I wont pack up completely but with an average of 6 jobs a month it is not enough to make a living, just take advantage from the tax allowances to make it worth while.

It really is time the government woke up and sorted this out if they are serious about climate change.

Mike

If you feel that you can waste £2 - 3000 on a promise of work go ahead. There is work out there with several panels offering £45 per EPC, so if you want to work for peanuts go ahead. Remember that to earn this princely sum you have to travel to the appointment, assess the property, return to your home/office and then file the EPC.

All of this will take you, on average, 3 hours. £15 an hour, higher than the minimum wage!! But you should now examine the costs involved, petrol, running the car, accreditation fees, lodgement fees, mobile phone charges, internet charges, stationary, etc, etc.

I should add that these panels offer no guarantee of work and, as they increase the number of DEAs willing to work for next to nothing, reduce the fees they are willing to pay quite regularly. If you still wish to train, the very best of luck to you, you will need it.

I would warn anyone off becoming a DEA for several reasons. 1. Too many already qualified - over twice number originally stated by govt. Also unless you have good connections, all work already tied up. Prices per EPC now diving to £50 net.

Also register of DEAs on Govt. Website is useless for searches. Comes up with people who live hundreds of miles away & discriminates in favour of those putting down dozens of postcodes.

Its always quiet for me. I have been accredited since Jan 2008..and not a single HIP. The course i did was a waste of time.

Kalvinder

These organisations are taking money under false pretenses as any new Energy Assessors will get very little work. Even when the housing market picks up they will find it difficult.

I understand there are 12,500+ DEA's and the market only needs 3,500. They like most of us will take years to get into the black on the £2,500 spent on training.

We need to get this message into the public domain.

It would seem we are all in the same position, misled by those who could make money from this and the Government.

Today on the news we hear that the government intend to push ahead with plans to give each of us a "Carbon Allowance" instead of Council Tax, most of us have heard of this plan at some point which had nothing to do with house sales.

If there ever is to be a future as a DEA will it be working for the Government as a new type of tax inspector? time will tell! 

I was persuaded to qualify as a DEA by the promise of up to 40 surveys a month to be provided by the organisation with whom I trained. Since I qualified I have had no work offers from them. In fact, they haven't even tried to source any work yet.

I joined forces with several colleagues who qualified at the same time as me and we have tried very hard to market ourselves and seek out any work opportunities, but with no success. We all feel that we were misled by the advert we responded to originally and by further empty promises made to us during our training.

The only people making money at the moment are the Training Companies and my advice to anyone thinking about becoming a DEA right now is....DON'T DO IT!!

Just to give you the feedback you asked- I have had quite a few calls from people who have found my number and were considering becoming DEA's.

They had all been lured by the TP's pitch of easy hours and big rewards - I have done my best to warn them of the over subsciption of DEA's and the difficulty of getting established once qualified and although it always seemed I had an axe to grind I have asked them if they were in a financial situation that enabled them to not earn any money for a year which I feel takes into account a training period and slow start with low commision rates - most people are not in that situation - mortgages etc ... 

Having been given this opportunity to voice my opinion, on giving advice to someone who is considering training and investing hard earned cash to train as a DEA or HI.

I would tell them keep your cash in your pocket, invest the cash in an ISA you will get a better return from this, the people who have become DEA's are lucky to earn £300.00 per month.

The Government have stuttered and stalled all the way down the line when it came to implementing the HCR and the EPC on all properties.

The training organizations are still advertising for new candidates to enroll. Even though the industry is overloaded with DEA's and HI's.

Still making money or trying to make money by selling CPD to those already trained and extra courses so that we can all keep our skills honed for the forthcoming rush of work.

These are my thoughts on the situation at present.

Mike Houldsworth.

Since I started this job 7 months ago, I have processed 5 reports in all.  I am currently working between 3 jobs to make a living.

So disappointed with how this new fantastic career has turn out and like so many others the money we had to spend and still spend to be a DEA and not get anything in return!

Still advertising and even have done leaflet drops but still no joy.  Hope the letting market brings more work or i will have to fold.  
Thanks for your time and energy
Chris Standring

I qualified as a DEA in sept 07, approached local estate agents - little response - inhouse - promised work from our trainers  @ Tolworth - nothing - in 8 months I've done 5 jobs not even enough to pay my accrediation!  Let alone what I spent out to train, books, equip etc  -

What they promised us - lost interest - are you surprised!  found work with a solvent company and made money in my first week - surprised Its true, fancy changing your career email me inglethorpe74 [at] aol [dot] com and find out more.

I live in Northumberland and I can honestly say if you are thinking about becoming a DEA forget it now' put your money into something that you may get a return.

Well, let's just say that this government has certainly let a lot of honest individuals, down. We were told that this was a golden opportunity to help the environment and at the same time give many of us, a chance at a change in direction in our working lives.

I for one, feel very let down and out of pocket! Since November last year I have done 2 assessments and a friend of mine, in London, has done none. For pity's sake, don't take any more trainees on now.

When I first started out on this journey and let's face it, it is a journey.....uphill! we were told by this government that the country needed at least 10,000 of us and now when there are over 7000, we are now told that 4000 would be a more realistic figure.

The powers that be must make the public perception of us more acceptable. At the moment I almost don't want to admit that I am one of those dreaded DEA's. The P.R. has been diabolical. Let's just hope that when the housing market turns round, as one day it surely will; us, 7000 will be ready to reap some benefits as we deserve.

Chris Cannon.

Seriously do your homework before even thinking about spending thousands on a training course.  We were advised that anticipated realistic earnings in the first year would be £30,000 (full time) based on each EPC being paid at approximately £120.00 and this only works out at being 1 EPC per day - not too unrealistic you might think!!

Between myself and some other DEA's I know, we are lucky to average 1 per week between all of us - not quite what we were sold!!