Following confirmation of the Government’s interpretation of guidance for in-house selling during the pandemic, there is some good news for our Trusted Installers operating during the current national lockdown.

The general guidance on the subject of sales, published on the Government’s website, remains the same and is unlikely to change for the next few weeks:

“Door-to-door sales should not take place, and sales activities should be conducted remotely (such as by phone, online, or mail).”

However, a slightly more relaxed interpretation of the rules around the restrictions is now in place...

In-home sales appointments

The Government has recently confirmed that if remote selling and surveying isn’t possible, then companies can conduct pre-booked in-house sales and surveys if carried out within the COVID safe guidelines. It is recommended that Homeowners are offered a remote appointment in the first instance.

As in-house selling requires advanced pre-booked appointments with the Homeowner, which takes time to arrange, our advice is that, if you cannot sell or survey remotely, then please ensure you do so in a measured and responsible manner.

It is also recommended that any employees entering a home to carry out work use the NHS Test and Trace App. This can be downloaded here: https://covid19.nhs.uk/

Canvassing and door-to-door sales

This cannot be undertaken at present. The latest Government guidelines confirm that “the (current) level of risk to public health met the requirements for Local

Authorities to be able to issue prohibition notices to companies as allowed by the regulations”.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is responsible for enforcing COVID safe guidance in relation to your business activities and has the power to issue an enforcement notice on any company that is not adhering to current guidance and therefore creating a potential risk to public health and safety.

What it means for you...

The restriction on in-house selling is slightly relaxed, and if the pandemic health statistics show an improvement, we expect the Government to ease restrictions gradually over the coming weeks and months.

However, at this point in time, our recently published COVID safe working guidance has not changed. As the situation progresses (for better or worse), we’ll update you as soon as we can.

In the meantime, we urge our Trusted Installers to continue to act responsibly and in line with current Government guidance to help safeguard employees and customers, protect the NHS and save lives.