Green Deal - will I ever get a Green Deal Plan? (Part 4)

So, about one month on from sending out 40 queries to providers, I still have not received any finance plan; I have no idea what the costs would be for the approved Green Deal measures, nor what (if any) ECO funding is available, nor what cash-back incentive may apply - let alone have I had any measures installed. This is somewhat frustrating - to say the least. 

I do wonder whether less engaged and motivated occupants may give up at this stage; the hassle factor is significantly increased having had an assessment done and then not being able to obtain any other information  or having works done. If I had paid for the assessment and then being unable to proceed or knowing when I might be able to follow up on its recommendations, I would have felt I just wasted the assessment fee. 

Admittedly this lack of progress does not exactly instill confidence in the whole Green Deal process. A brief update below:

• From 2 potentially positive responses, I have only heard from the installer and they had to apologise to say that the funders they go through do not have everything in place yet and they will get back to me ASAP.
• I have not yet heard from the only provider who gave me a positive response saying they would contact me after Easter for a survey. I have contacted them again by email to enquire.
• I have not yet heard an update from any of the other providers (6) who said they are not yet ready or able to do a Green Deal Plan but expect to be in April/May. I don't think this is a fault of their own -  this delay appears partly caused by software not being launched on time and due to the complexities and bureaucracy of the scheme. One wonders why Green Deal assessments were kicked off to begin with as it loses momentum for householders having decided to undertake works and being unable to proceed under the Green Deal.
• I have received no response from about 18 contacted providers (45% of total number of providers contacted)
• One provider still insists that "as part of our procedure we do require that you complete our application forms" because they did not undertake the Green Deal Assessment, which is a big hassle as I do not understand why I have to give the same information twice - but simply on a different form. Surely it defeats the purpose of having Green Deal approved assessors undertake the works?
• I have however been contacted by Parity Projects and there may be the opportunity to work them as a pilot study with a Co-op Model as part of their 'Green Deal Conduit' , which sounds promising.

A few other things to update on/clarify, thanks to twitter and LinkedIn discussions and people leaving comments:

• The actual fee paid to the Green Deal assessor will be < £250 as there are other in-between organisations and activities involved such as marketing and lodgement of the scheme which would have to come from the £250 per assessment. In fact, the actual assessor's fee may be unsustainably low (well under £100) for the amount of work involved.
• I am told that the EPC does take into account orientation of the house for solar panel installation.(I am still baffled why it came up as a (non-funded) appropriate measure for my property but I guess this may be down to software limitations)
• In-Use factors are applied in Green Deal Occupancy Assessment, not in the EPC.
• Green Deal predicted savings are based on "RdSAP, in-use factors, actual occupancy and actual bills.", according to Linn Rafferty
  
• The use of 1 RDSap point as a minimum requirement for Green deal 'approved' measure "is applied in an EPC, but in Green Deal, measures are presented to the Advisor whenever they might be appropriate, regardless of the size of the resulting SAP improvement", again according to Linn Rafferty
  
• "A customer can even choose to include in their eventual Green Deal Plan measures that don't save a lot of money. The need to meet the golden rule doesn't prevent the less cost effective measures being included, it only limits the amount that may be borrowed for them." See Linn Rafferty's blog on this.
  
• A list of Green Deal installers here (Thank you John!)