Does this constitute fraud?

Dooferry

Good morning everyone,

I am a newbie here, so please accept my apologies if this is posted in the wrong place.  I need some advice on my Feed-in tariff payments, and any help is appreciated.  Bit of a long story, so please bare with me.

I bought solar panels about 7 years ago and these were installed at my previous address.  I registered the feed-in tariff details with my energy provider, and the FIT payments were paid directly into my account every quarter.  I left this property after a separation, and the energy company were contacted again to confirm my new forwarding address for the statements to be forwarded to (bank account details remain the same).  It was agreed that the readings would be sent to me regularly by my ex, however the last time I received them was 2 years ago (this was also the last time I received my FIT payment).  I have now received an email (out of the blue) from the energy company in March this year, thanking me for the latest readings and to confirm I would receive my statement and payment by the end of May.  Unfortunately, I haven’t received either.

I’ve tried to contact the company to ask who supplied these readings, but their FIT department are not ‘customer facing’ so every time I ring, their customer service team cannot help so just keep telling me I need to email them but I’ve had no response.  I’m worried that someone else may be receiving my FIT payments fraudulently but I also hope I’m wrong.  I have a few thoughts on this:

a. The property has had a smart meter installed and readings are being sent across to the company automatically.  (Not sure if this can actually happen though?)
b. The energy company’s meter reading department have been out to check/read the meter and fed back the readings that way.
c. Someone residing at the property has contacted the energy company, possibly pretending to be me and changed the bank account details on my FIT account and is providing the readings so payment can be made to them instead.

I’m a little sceptical about the last point, as even I can’t get in touch with them so really hoping this isn’t the case however, if someone has managed to get hold of them to change the details on my FIT account, does this constitute fraud and if so, what could/should I do about it?

Any help or advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Reed_Richards

I would have thought that whoever owns your previous address owns the solar panels you installed there (unless you have a contract to the contrary).
    

The_Fat_Controller

Why haven't you queried anything for 2 years ?
Do you still own the property ?
Who is actually the account owner for the electricity supply ?

Dooferry

Hi, thanks for your reply.

The panels and FIT are still registered in my name, and no change of ownership has been signed for (as far as I’m aware anyway).  It is a difficult situation though, the property is now solely owned by my ex however the panels and FIT were never transferred over.

Reed_Richards

If you take ownership of a property you don't have to sign a transfer of ownership for the shed in the garden or the paving stones on the patio or the solar panels on the roof.  Anything on the property is sold/transferred with the property.  You may have paid for the garden shed but it's not yours any longer, the same goes for the solar panels.  That is unless you had a specific agreement that you retained ownership of the solar panels.  Your Ex would be unwise to agree to this because this type of arrangement upsets mortgage lenders.   

Dooferry

Ahh, ok I understand that thanks.

It was a transfer of equity for the property and this was completed in 2015.  I have been receiving FIT payments since then, and statements to my new address.  I get that the panels are still on the roof of said house, however it’s the actual feed-in tariff payments I am querying.  I understand that this cannot be transferred to another without certain documentation/signed declaration, so if this has been done without my knowledge I just wanted to know if there was anything I could do.

[Deleted User]

To answer your specific question on smart meters. SMETS2 smart meters are capable of recording/storing/transmitting import and export data. However, before export data can be used for such things as SEG payments as opposed to FIT, the supplier has to apply to the local DNO for a separate MPAN: that is, one meter with two MPANs. 

As smart meters do not record the amount that a solar array generates they cannot be used for FIT payments; however, they can be used for export payments in certain circumstances.

Finally, Ofgem maintains a Register of all installations that qualify for FIT payments. The contact email address is:

FITRegister@Ofgem.gov.uk

Unless you can provide evidence that you still own the array, it is possible that Ofgem will not talk to you; however, a simple question 'is my name linked to a solar array at this address' might get you a simple Yes/No answer that doesn't breach GDPR.   It is of course possible that evidence of a change of solar panel ownership was provided to the FIT payer, and in the absence of any transfer instructions from you a change of ownership has been actioned. 

Dooferry

Perfect, thank you for all your comments.  I will try contacting Ofgem and see what happens.

I still have the original contract for the installation of the panels, but as you say if someone has provided details to the contrary it’s possible the FIT ownership may also have been transferred without me knowing.

Once again, thank you.

niktheguru

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this already. Have you actually asked your ex if she/he has tried to take over the FIT payments. (or installed smart meters or changed energy providers.) I would assume given that you haven't been receiving the meter readings for 2 years there may be a breakdown in communication (between the two of you) hence potentially she/he may have decided to get in on the payment action seeing as they now own the property, live in the property and the panels reside on the property so may feel (rightly or wrongly) they have the right to receive the income for the FIT payments. You could certainly rule out this possibility by querying this with her/him?

Reed_Richards

Here's something I found online:

What happens to FiT payments when you move?
According to energy regulator Ofgem, FiT payments are made to the homeowner or operator of a solar PV system. So, as a general rule if you as a homeowner were to move house the payments would normally transfer to the new property owners.

Dooferry

niktheguru said:

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this already. Have you actually asked your ex if she/he has tried to take over the FIT payments. (or installed smart meters or changed energy providers.) I would assume given that you haven't been receiving the meter readings for 2 years there may be a breakdown in communication (between the two of you) hence potentially she/he may have decided to get in on the payment action seeing as they now own the property, live in the property and the panels reside on the property so may feel (rightly or wrongly) they have the right to receive the income for the FIT payments. You could certainly rule out this possibility by querying this with her/him?

Thanks for your response.  Yes, there has been a breakdown in communication between us, the separation wasn’t amicable.

I’m just confused how the recent emails I have received from the energy company are still addressed to me (in my name), so need to find out if someone else has provided the readings pretending to be me, but didn’t think to also change the email address.  It might be just a mistake on the company’s side.

Hopefully Ofgem may be able to provide the answer as to whether or not the FIT is still registered to me.

Thank you.