Free solar panel feedback discussion: HomeSun

Cardew

HalloweenJack wrote: »

They are hedging there bets for the upcoming court case (im still guessing the government will ask for another extension - say a week till feb);

at that point the hedge is the government LOSE the appeal and the feeding frenzy can restart - homesun want to be able to `pounce` and start the same hour as the announcement is made , so want a clutch of contracts , signed and ready so the vans can be putting up scafolding that day.

You make it sound like they are organised enough to carry out such a plan;)

beelzebomb

Govt has lost it's appeal regarding the planned cuts, just announced on BBC radio - so where does this leave free solar?
Will companies that stopped (like E.ON) start to offer this service once more?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16721328

rogerblack

beelzebomb wrote: »

Govt has lost it's appeal regarding the planned cuts, just announced on BBC radio - so where does this leave free solar?
Will companies that stopped (like E.ON) start to offer this service once more?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16721328

It seems unlikely.
March the 3rd is the new deadline.
This is 5 and a half weeks.

They will not be doing the work themselves, but only through subcontractors.
These subcontractors would - even if they are being called now - be unlikely to be able to re-employ staff, get the vans hired, get enough stock of all the bits in under 2-3 weeks.
So this means you have maybe - very optimistically - 2-3 weeks of actual installs.
And the subcontractor will now have much higher costs, as it's quite a bit more expensive to do all of this in a rush and employ someone for a 2-3 week period than if it was continual, meaning lower profits for the company.

Cardew

beelzebomb wrote: »

Govt has lost it's appeal regarding the planned cuts, just announced on BBC radio - so where does this leave free solar?
Will companies that stopped (like E.ON) start to offer this service once more?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16721328

I would imagine that those Rent a Roof companies who believe they can still make a profit at the lower rate, will carry on installing.

They have nothing to lose - if the Government fail in their further appeal they get the 43.3p/kWh.

Beware Homesun though! This(IMO) dreadful company initially charged some gullible customers a fee of £500 and £5 a month maintenance fee as well; so some customers will actually be out of pocket(paying out more than they save) and Homesun get the maintenance fee as well as their 43.3p/kWh.

What is the betting they try the same tactic? - as well as exaggerating potential savings.

bearcub

DoctorBanzai wrote: »

Hi Zanderman,
first let me say that I am totally biased against Homesun. You've probaly already sussed that.

However...

The lease that I had was pretty water tight and seemed OK to me and my solicitor BUT there's no telling how they may have changed their terms now that they're in a corner.
My advise; be very careful. Get the lease checked out before pen touches paper. Also remember that there ARE still other companies offering free solar.
You'll be dealing with these people for 25 years, you MUST make sure you're happy with everything for your own sake.

All the best, Doc.

That's very interesting, doc, that your solicitor reckoned the lease was ok. My mum's solicitor was so worried about the implications of the lease that he advised her to find another house to buy, and I could understand why when I read it. We're still waiting to see what happens with the company, before deciding whether to seek legal help to have Homesun remove the panels.

DoctorBanzai

Hi Bear,
I'm sorry that things are looking so dodgy for you.

I can, obviously, only rely on my experiences with Homesun and suspect that Homesun has more than one 'standard' lease.

My solicitor didn't raise any serious issues, but my circumstances are likely to be different from your Mums. In particular I had no concerns whatsoever regarding any implications about selling my property.

Good luck though getting it sorted. I hope it goes well for you.

All the best, Doc

bearcub

Thanks, doc. We may end up out of pocket, but at least we'll know that the property will be sellable when necessary. As it is, we're pleased that Mum is nearby for us to help her out when she needs us.

HomeSun_company_representative

bearcub wrote: »

That's very interesting, doc, that your solicitor reckoned the lease was ok. My mum's solicitor was so worried about the implications of the lease that he advised her to find another house to buy, and I could understand why when I read it. We're still waiting to see what happens with the company, before deciding whether to seek legal help to have Homesun remove the panels.

Hi bearcub,


Just to ally some worries ..HomeSun is a financially strong company with a plc partner/investor in Carillion. If anything did happen at some distant point in the future, the solar contracts stay in place (as do the solar systems) and they cannot change without the consent of the homeowner. HomeSun has led the way on solar leases, and ours complies completely with the Council of Mortgage Lenders recommenders. In fact, most lenders are so comfortable with its terms that they pass through their approvals system with hours. Finally, on sale of property. Obviously everyone has different experiences. We’ve had customers sell their property where solar has been an advantage and there are numerous research reports that say energy efficiency measures – including solar – are precisely what a home owner looks for. And if there are worries over the lease – it is not 25year binding with HomeSun in as much as the homeowner is free to buy out of the lease at any point. There are no penalties – the price goes down over time, with the schedule appended to the back of the contract.

Please let me know if you have anything you are worried about in the lease and I can have someone in our legal department discuss it with you.

Tanya

zeupater

Hi

Rough & ready translation is your stuck with us and the system unless you pay an extortionate amount of money relative to the current cost of buying the system off us .....

The only benefit that I can see from buying the system at the moment is that the FiT should be at the higher level .... then again there's the issue on VAT where Homesun seemed to have no idea that the full prevailing rate would apply so it's really going to cost considerably more than a current new install, both in base cost and additional VAT .... double is probably in the right ball-park (?), so if the buy-out option is taken you'd have to see it as the system being at a cost which it would have been a few years ago ....

HTH
Z

bearcub

HomeSun_company_representative wrote: »

Hi bearcub,


Just to ally some worries ..HomeSun is a financially strong company with a plc partner/investor in Carillion. If anything did happen at some distant point in the future, the solar contracts stay in place (as do the solar systems) and they cannot change without the consent of the homeowner. HomeSun has led the way on solar leases, and ours complies completely with the Council of Mortgage Lenders recommenders. In fact, most lenders are so comfortable with its terms that they pass through their approvals system with hours. Finally, on sale of property. Obviously everyone has different experiences. We’ve had customers sell their property where solar has been an advantage and there are numerous research reports that say energy efficiency measures – including solar – are precisely what a home owner looks for. And if there are worries over the lease – it is not 25year binding with HomeSun in as much as the homeowner is free to buy out of the lease at any point. There are no penalties – the price goes down over time, with the schedule appended to the back of the contract.

Please let me know if you have anything you are worried about in the lease and I can have someone in our legal department discuss it with you.

Tanya

I must make this clear - my husband and I have our own house. The house to which I'm referring is my mother's and, if we should all decide that it is best to have the panels removed, it will be via our solicitor in discussion with your company, no other way. And, should we decide to have the panels removed, the lease requires that we pay upfront the price you quote with our request for removal - NOTE not when you agree to remove them! The latter is the main reason why we'll do it all through a solicitor. Our consideration of having the panels removed is because of the terms of Homesun's lease, not their financial situation.

We don't doubt that a house with solar panels can be attractive to buyers - there are LOADS of properties here fitted with solar panels, but other potential buyers of the property backed out when their solicitor warned them off, having seen Homesun's lease. My mother's solicitor, as I've said, advised her of the same thing. We decided to proceed, for reasons which are irrelevant here. If the panels had been fitted by one of two other companies, we would have no such reservations.

As I've said before, anyone thinking of dealing with this company, DO NOT sign anything before it's been checked out by a solicitor!