Solar energy - Feed-in Tariff payment delays - your experiences?

KevinG

EricMears wrote: »

I'm with ScottishPower.
Latest claim made 15th Feb; auto acknowledged instantly and 'proper' response within a few mins promising payment "in next 28 days".
Payment received today - Day 23

That's slow for SP. As zeupater says, they're quicker (and more reliable) if you phone them (0141 568 6806).

EricMears

KevinG wrote: »

That's slow for SP. As zeupater says, they're quicker (and more reliable) if you phone them (0141 568 6806).

It was quite a bit quicker in November - possibly they're rushed off their feet this month with processng new registrations. But even their full 28d would have been quite acceptable - their payment is going into a non-interest bearing current account and I'm not that bothered about a few days delay. Obviously a different matter if it got to 3 months delay as some here report from other RECs ! If the cash used to buy the panels had remained in my ISA, I'd be getting a fraction of the return paid anually.

John_Pierpoint

Several days spent reinforcing my roof followed by 6 hours taken by a team of three to fit the PV system, is turning out to be the quick part of the process.

Having taken the advice of this thread to go for British Gas, as the best of the poor bunch, I'm getting there slowly.

14 Feb - 11:30 - 17:30System fitted and commissioned just in time (before dark).
21 Feb - Eventually received all of the supplier's documentation.
21 Feb - Realised I had lost the payment for 56 units of production.:mad:
22 Feb - Received and completed (via Email) the British Gas application form.
23 Feb - Application rejected as the final payment was evidenced by a hand written invoice (The master copy from a pad completed by the rep.) plus a printed receipt from the card terminal.
27 Feb - Protest that the document recorded all three payments and the full specification rejected [Unlike a will an invoice must be printed!]
28 Feb - Supplier provides a typed summary of the invoice and this is forwarded to British Gas.
02 March - Email with my obligations to report any changes plus 11 pages of terms and conditions received as two attachments.
Immediately signed and returned by snail mail.
02 March - Email sent to British Gas suggesting that there should be a page of the agreement detailing my installation, attached to the contract?!
10 March - A chasing Email sent enquiring about previous email and contract sheet?
16 March - Had to resort to a telephone call - Established that there had been a clerical error.
16 March - British Gas eventually supply the missing page of the agreement (the one with all my details on it). This has been signed and sent on to the snail mail address; it the hope it will get matched with the other 11 pages.

Conclusions of this story:
This "we must have the initial commissioning report and the other paperwork sent to us on the day of installation" is a nonsensical rule - where does the Government think the electricity has been going? 28 days would be a more sensible deadline !
British Gas is a bit more into the 21st century, than some of the other companies BUT their FiT system is not really geared up for Email communications ?
British Gas might be better than most of the other companies BUT their FiT system is not really geared up for electronic communications, if you want to be reasonably sure do it by 'phone ?

John

PS British Gas seems to be proposing to take the generation reading after 3 months (May) and at that time accepting the 31st March reading too ??

jimjames

Received my first FiT payment from British Gas today, submitted on 22 Feb. I had similar problems to John with the inital signup and sending correct paperwork twice but the date they received my docs initally was still taken as the start date.

John_Pierpoint

Oh the saga is not yet over, British Gas can't find my contract.

Perhaps if I resupply all their contract paperwork I will get three FiT payments?:rotfl:

Forty years ago, there was an organisation that was a watch word for incompetence, as I and a colleague already knew from our experiences as customers. It made regular appearances on programmes such as BBC TV "That's Life". The organisation was "North Thames Gas" perhaps the virus has broken out again and spread North to Manchester.

nanceemc

Yes - same emailing back and forth of contract and invoice as outlined above ... i suppose to make you determined. But its a bit much when it takes 2 weeks to respond to an email reading that then they only undertake to make a payment within 28 days ... i suppoose its a nice little interest earner. Anyone knows what the formal target is for them to make FiT payments?

jimjames

nanceemc wrote: »

Yes - same emailing back and forth of contract and invoice as outlined above ... i suppose to make you determined. But its a bit much when it takes 2 weeks to respond to an email reading that then they only undertake to make a payment within 28 days ... i suppoose its a nice little interest earner. Anyone knows what the formal target is for them to make FiT payments?

As my post above it is 28 days. Mine was received in less than that.

mymerrywidow

help please.

solar panels fitted 21st feb.

paperwork sent off to E.D.F, letter recieved saying due to backlog blah blah blah.......

so when do i "sign" anything and when/where do i send my solar reading off?

i dont want to rock the boat with E.D.F though as i have a meter that goes backwards. a chappie came to change it but he didnt have the right meter on board his van. so i am techinally haveing free electric. hence why i dont want to rock the boat.

sly_dog_jonah

mymerrywidow wrote: »

help please.

solar panels fitted 21st feb.

paperwork sent off to E.D.F, letter recieved saying due to backlog blah blah blah.......

so when do i "sign" anything and when/where do i send my solar reading off?

i dont want to rock the boat with E.D.F though as i have a meter that goes backwards. a chappie came to change it but he didnt have the right meter on board his van. so i am techinally haveing free electric. hence why i dont want to rock the boat.

EDF took over 3months to send us our contract after applying late October.

You've notified them about the supply meter running backwards so don't worry about it. Sounds like they'll replace it soon.

Martyn1981

mymerrywidow wrote: »

help please.

solar panels fitted 21st feb.

paperwork sent off to E.D.F, letter recieved saying due to backlog blah blah blah.......

so when do i "sign" anything and when/where do i send my solar reading off?

Until you get your contract (mine took 10 weeks, and that was before the Nov panic), you won't be able to submit readings. Once contract signed, returned, and registered, they'll ask for a reading at the next quarterly point - 1st of Mch, June, Sept, Dec. You then get that month to respond. If you don't reply by the end of the month, it'll roll on to the next quarterly date.

Mart.