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

tunnel

I must say a big heads up to SSE,put in my reading on 31/3/12 and my FIT payment was in my bank on 10/4/12. Same happened on my previous reading on december 31st last year,payment received within 10 days. I've had a stress free experience from install to payments.

Tunnel

margin

orrery wrote: »

Let's not lose sight of the fact that e.on have showed up to face the music.

Very nice of them, but they should be paying us the money!

The_Green_Hornet

I've just sent my latest quarterly generation reading to E.ON so I should receive payment by the end of May under their new temporary 45 day time-scale.

Yes it would be nice to receive payment within a couple of weeks but then I'm in no hurry to spend the money so it is not a major issue for me.

If it was, I would simply move to a different supplier/provider.

Common_Man

Hi all. The story continues

Phoned EON on tues 10/04/2012 spoke to a nice lady called Helen
who checked and phoned back and phoned back again and again.
She apologised for the mess so far and promised payment next payment run. I told her that was no good as I was promised that two weeks ago and I would only accept an immediate payment.She arranged for a manager to phone me, which he did within the hour to tell me that an e-mail statement had been sent and money would be transferred the same day.I have received the e-mail but have yet to find the money in my bank account.Hopefully will turn up tomorrow.

John_Pierpoint

John_Pierpoint wrote: »

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 ??

Update:

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

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.

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

It seems that the Luton postcode for an address in Dunstable, is no longer part of the British Gas FiT organisation ??

British Gas is not scoring high marks for communication, even by email.
So I phoned and played telephone sudoku on its keyboard. Well at least it is an 0800 number.

I am assured that all the paperwork has now been done and my generation readings will be required in May.:T

margin

The_Green_Hornet wrote: »

Yes it would be nice to receive payment within a couple of weeks but then I'm in no hurry to spend the money so it is not a major issue for me.

If it was, I would simply move to a different supplier/provider.

But can't you see where this is going ? The interest a provider can earn on the hundreds of thousands of pounds it has to dispense would be considerable; the longer it can delay payment the better, as far as it is concerned. Moving to a different provider is unlikely to realise any benefit, as providers will emulate each other in 'a race to the bottom.'

Spend it or save it - you have to have the money first !

KevinG

margin wrote: »

Moving to a different provider is unlikely to realise any benefit, as providers will emulate each other in 'a race to the bottom.'

Scottish Power hasn't joined the race yet - once again money in the bank 9 days after I supplied the reading.

Common_Man

Hurrah!!:T

The payment for first six months production turned up today.

The next quarters reading is due in just over two weeks. I wonder how long that payment will take. EON did say they were testing an automated system. Perhaps it will be better when that is introduced and human error is taken out of the system.

zeupater

Common_Man wrote: »

.... they were testing an automated system. Perhaps it will be better when that is introduced and human error is taken out of the system.

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:..... you just caused me to spill a cupa ....

Common_Man

zeupater wrote: »

:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:..... you just caused me to spill a cupa ....

Glad you enjoyed my attempt at irony.I am ever the optimist.