A furious Scots homeowner was left sleeping on the floor of his home in a sleeping bag for weeks after "shoddy" insulation work was left unfinished. Nick McGaw, 49, lives in a cottage in Hillside, near Montrose in Angus and applied for wall insulation in his 'draughty' 100-year-old property, through a grant scheme.
However, after clearing out all his furniture and preparing his home to be insulated by removing fittings and furnishings from the walls in January, Mr McGaw said that months later, some of the work was still left unfinished.
While waiting for tradesmen to finish the work, Nick said he had no choice but to stay in the property and that although he had expected a period of upheaval, he was forced to rely on friends and family to cook meals, have showers and use the toilet while he was left sleeping on the floor.
He told the Record: "It's been hellish for me. Living without those facilities for months was a nightmare. Not having your own shower or toilet and relying on your mum when you're in your late forties to cook meals isn't ideal. Nobody wants to be sleeping in a sleeping bag in their living room for months at a time, it's ridiculous that it came to that.
"It just left me so angry. And I don't want that to happen to anyone else. It just feels like if you want a job done right, do it yourself or get proper people in from the start.
"It's shoddy work and I just felt like I was ignored after phoning and emailing with my complaints. The job was only meant to take two weeks."
Mr McGaw applied for a grant from SCARF, a social enterprise which delivers services to people in North East Scotland. He had seen adverts from Home Energy Scotland, which is funded by the Scottish Government, advertising funding for wall insulation.
A company called Diversity Energy Solutions, based in Banff in Aberdeenshire, was then contracted to carry out the work. The work began at the start of the year and Mr McGaw had to live in the house throughout. He had planned to continue the refurbishment of the cottage by putting in a new bathroom and kitchen.
But it was only in April, nine weeks after work began, that he was finally able to turn the water back on and fit a shower and bath - at his own cost - after he was forced to get local tradesmen to finish the job.
He also had to hire an electrician to make sure the power was safe enough to turn back on after wires were left hanging from bare sockets on the walls.
In the end, Nick claims he forked out around £600 of his own money on work to the property.
Nick added: "I was contacting SCARF constantly but getting no response. In the end I had to get third parties in to rectify it, local tradesmen, at my own expense, and also do what I could do myself. One electrician said the way a socket had been left was a fire hazard.
"I wish I'd just done the job myself. It just feels like the work was done with no one accountable or checking it for quality and standards. If this has happened to me then I'm sure I'm not the only person. What if it had been a pensioner or a single mum?"
A SCARF spokesman said: "We are unable to comment on specific cases due to data protection. However any complaint regarding services we offer are taken extremely seriously. As such, I have highlighted this query to the appropriate contractor and await a response. Again, we treat any issues such as this with the utmost focus."
A Diversity Energy Solutions spokeswoman said that due to GDPR rules, they could not discuss individual properties or clients but added: "I can confirm that Diversity Energy Solutions has met all the relevant requirements in relation to the project referenced."
A Scottish Government spokesman said that Home Energy Scotland has contacted SCARF and that Home Energy Scotland are investigating Mr McGaw's case and will contact him in due course.
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