Obtaining an MCS certificate 18 April 2022 at 10:20AM in Green & ethical MoneySaving 6 replies 720 views

jt9862

Hi all, as indicated I'm trying to obtain an MCS certificate for my father. He and my mum had a sizeable array of solar panels installed in autumn 2012 by an installer who seem to have gone bust since (Solarking UK). Sadly, my mum died 5 years ago and he was her primary carer and had no career, so I'm a bit worried about how he'll cope with the huge increase in energy bills, hence my attempt to sort this now.

The primary problem is that my parents were not good record keepers, so I can only find limited evidence of the installation (surveys, warranty certificate, part of a contract), and certainly no original certificate or invoice. As such, I'm finding it hard to get a new certificate issued by mcscertified.com on his behalf. I am fairly certain they were on a British gas FIT at installation but switched from that to another supplier in around 2015, and did not switch over to a FIT. He's currently on Octopus and I am trying to get him onto their exporter tarrif. 

Does anyone know of any ways I can get him some money for all of this energy he's generating? Any help gladly appreciated!

Reed_Richards

If your parents were on a British Gas FIT then they would remain on a British Gas FIT even if they switched electricity supplier.  FIT payments begun in 2012 would be far more lucrative than any exporter scheme now so be careful what you do.

EricMears

jt9862 said: I am fairly certain they were on a British gas FIT at installation but switched from that to another supplier in around 2015, and did not switch over to a FIT. He's currently on Octopus and I am trying to get him onto their exporter tarrif. 

If they were originally on a Feed In Tariff with British Gas in 2012 and haven't transferred the FIT to anyone else then they should still be on that FIT and contacting BG ought to be the first step.  In theory,  BG ought to accept a current reading of the TGM and pay up everything they're owed.

Alas,  it may not be that simple if BG have 'lost' their file !

Reed_Richards

Are you certain this was not a "rent-a-roof" scheme where some third party installs and owns the solar panels and thereby gets the full benefit of the FIT?  The householder just gets the use of the solar electricity but no financial benefit.     

QrizB

There is a public list of FIT-receiving systems including dates of installation and partial postcodes. You might be able to find your parents system on that list, which might then give more clues.

Reed_Richards

QrizB said:

There is a public list of FIT-receiving systems including dates of installation and partial postcodes. You might be able to find your parents system on that list, which might then give more clues.

I tried and failed to look myself up.  I could not find an installation that exactly matched my commissioning date and the MCS certificate numbers are not given, as far as I could see).

gefnew

How can I obtain a copy of my MCS certificate?

If you require a copy of the certificate, please contact your Installer in the first instance to request this. MCS is only able to generate the certificate on behalf of the Installer for customers if:

• The Installer is no longer MCS certified
• The Installer is no longer trading

If this is the case, the MCS Helpdesk Team will support you in obtaining a copy of your MCS certificate. Certificates will be generated within 10 working days. Note that MCS certificate copies can only be provided to the current system owner or their legal representative.

To request a copy of your certificate, we require:

• Proof of ownership
• Payment of admin fee

For proof of ownership, one of the following four items are accepted:

• A fully paid invoice marked paid by the original MCS Installer (i.e. the installation company)
• The original invoice with the corresponding bank statements showing full payment has been made
• A formal letter from a solicitor, on headed paper, stating that the customer is the owner of the system in question
• A Feed-in Tariff statement

Note that, proof of ownership of the property is not proof of ownership of the system.

MCS will not be held liable for any issues with your system, including product failure or installation failure. We are only able to provide the MCS certificate based on the information you have provided to us, and this is no guarantee of access to any government incentive schemes.

To request your copy, please complete this form, attaching the appropriate evidence.

Read this it may help. Certificate Queries - MCS (mcscertified.com)

Good luck