WHEN the car scrappage scheme was introduced in May last year, few expected the Government plan would revitalise a moribund motor trade and provide 400,000 owners with newer, greener vehicles.

But that seems the likely result of £400m of Government funding, which will run out in the spring.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown struggles to get any praise for anything at present, so perhaps it was only to be expected that a £50m boiler scrappage scheme was greeted with scepticism.

Critics suspected it was a thinly disguised work creation scheme to boost 130,000 boiler installers and 25 UKbased manufacturers, many hit hard by the recession.

About 80 per cent of our boilers are made in Britain, so that could help to retain thousands of jobs, too.

The boiler scheme is broadly similar to the car scheme. It should help suppliers, installers and consumers, and offers energy efficiency advantages too.

It will give 125,000 households in England with the least efficient G-rated boilers £400 towards replacing it with an A-rated model. That could cut annual fuel bills for a household by £235 a year.

If boiler installers follow the example of motor dealers and match the Government discount, the saving could be £800. Only British Gas, which dominates our energy market, and npower hometeam, a subsidiary of fourth largest energy supplier npower, have so far agreed to do that.

In simple terms, anyone with a boiler in which the pilot light burns constantly probably qualifies for the scheme.

While Government funding is reserved for owners of Grated boilers, the npower scheme also applies to C-rated boilers that are at least ten years old.

As many as 4.5 million band G-rated boilers are still in use, working at less than 70 per cent efficiency and wasting too much of their owners’ money.

To qualify, homeowners, both owner-occupiers and landlords, must check their old boiler is eligible for the scheme, probably by consulting the website of the Energy Saving Trust. They must register an interest in the scheme with the trust, arrange rival quotes for the job – ideally from local firms as well as major suppliers, who must all be Gas Safe-registered installers – select an installer and gain approval for the replacement boiler from the trust.

Vouchers will be issued about ten days after the initial application. Full payment must be made when the work is completed, with the voucher then submitted with an invoice to the trust for payment, so owners who cannot afford to pay for the job in full might not be able to participate.

The Government could be a winner, too. It is calculated that a new boiler generates VAT receipts of £437.50, comfortably topping the £400 incentive given to start the whole process.

Energy experts, however, have mixed feelings.

Tom Lyon, from uSwitch.

com, said: ‘‘The Government is moving quickly on this scrappage scheme, but consumers should get quotes from several sources, including independent plumbers, to ensure they get a competitive price. They should never risk safety by using a plumber who is not Gas Safe-registered, even if they are offered a lower price.”

Mark Todd, from price comparison site energyhelpline, said: “If you assume the average household spends around £600 per year on heating and hot water, a new boiler might save £100 of that. If you spend £2,000 on a new boiler, that’s a payback period lasting 20 years.”

He said easier ways to save money included turning down the thermostat and switching energy supplier.

POUND NOTES

DESPITE fears of interest rates rising again, mortgage lenders are under pressure to cut fixed-rate loans.

Ray Boulger, at broker John Charcol, notes that Chelsea, Coventry, Halifax, HSBC, Nationwide, Santander and Alliance and Leicester have all done so in recent days, while ITL expanded its range to include a competitive 95 per cent loan to value limit for fixed and tracker rate loans.

So is this time to go for a fix again? “I wouldn’t go that far”, says Boulger. “The best buys remain lifetime trackers; they have flexibility, and after two years many don’t levy an early repayment charge if you want to get out.”

● Serious savers should check regularly that the bonus on their savings accounts has not quietly expired.

Kevin Mountford, from moneysupermarketcom, said research showed that when the introductory bonus rate ends, the rate on some easy access accounts slides to about half the original rate.

● The January 31 tax deadline looms large for taxpayers to submit their online selfassessment forms to the tax man.

Taxpayers who miss the deadline will find themselves gifting the taxman about £104m in fines.

That is the calculation of professional advice website Unbiased, which estimates that a million people missed the deadline last year to face fines of £100 upwards.