Solar panels and cancellation of your FIT by Ofgem

jasee

My panels were installed on the 18th March 2016. I was given a FIT and have been claiming for the electricty put back into the grid since then. On about the 18th of March 2022, I received a letter from Ofgem saying they were suspending my FIT and would cancel it as it appeared there was something wrong with my MCS certificate. Apparently 'something' was not right with it. I contacted REC, NAPID and MCS and eventually discovered that the installers had failed to renew their membership of REC just three days before the installation of my system! All this information was there at the time of the installation so it is not clear why Ofgem left it until March 2016 to inform me!

According to Ofgem there are about 51 consumers who have been suspended or had their FITs removed.

I have contacted MCS, REC, NAPID, MCS and Ofgem. They are like robots. They have a set of rules which apparently they must follow without exception. The system is based on the MCS certificate as some pround standard better MCS say  tthe  protection afforded by their consumer code is much better than consumer law, however it has left at least 50 consumers with, as far as I know, no hope of redress. The electricty companies must be happy just to take the electricity supplied to them through the meters!

If anyone who is in this situation contacts this site through this post, perhaps we as a group may be able to get something done

Reed_Richards

At least you had 6 years of FIT that you should not have been entitled to.  Are you now in the same position as someone who installed solar panels after March 2019?  Or does the lack of proper accreditation prevent you from ever being paid for the electricity you export?

jasee

Reed_Richards said:

At least you had 6 years of FIT that you should not have been entitled to.  Are you now in the same position as someone who installed solar panels after March 2019?  Or does the lack of proper accreditation prevent you from ever being paid for the electricity you export?

Thanks for your reply

'Entitled' by whom? There is nothing wrong with my solar panels. I submitted all the documents required. I  was given a FIT, the electricty has been sending me claim forms up to March 2022 My panels are produing electricity. It is being sent into the electricity grid. The electricity company is benefitting from it (in a relatively small way). If someone somewhere had siad something back in 2016, I might have been able to contact the supplier, but no one didn't.

Tthe original installer has gone out of business. I've rung a few installers and none seem to be able to inspect the system and verify that it is working properly, if that is what is required?

MCS, on their site, specifically exclude claims when the original installer has gone out of business

Ofgem have taken my FIT away. The electricity company is no longer asking for meter readings. Ofgem told me this in March. The only way was to check that the information given by REC, NAPID, and MCS was incorrect in some way. They have never told me exactly what was wrong. The only thing I can find is that the REC certificate for the installer was three days out of date.

Does anyone get any allowance after March 2019? I thought the FIT scheme has been stopped for personal, home, use?

51 other people are in a similar position it seems.

QrizB

Sorry to hear about your problems.

Is your installer was still in business, you might have a case for breach of contract against them.

Without that, you're in a difficult situation since the installation they provided (apparently) doesn't qualify for a MCS Certificate or FIT.

jasee said:

Does anyone get any allowance after March 2019? I thought the FIT scheme has been stopped for personal, home, use?

You can claim SEG payments for exported electricity on a system, even without a fIT. The problem here is that the SEG supplier will also want a MCS Certificate.

Tthe original installer has gone out of business. I've rung a few installers and none seem to be able to inspect the system and verify that it is working properly, if that is what is required?

The only way I know of to get a valid MCS Certificate is from a MCS-certified installer. I'm sure they're all very busy now with full order books but you might find them more willing to help in the winter.

Martyn1981

Wow that's cruel. So had the information / documentation / membership been checked at the time, you could have done something about it and got a new MCS cert from A. N. Other, in order to complete the FiT application, but now you are getting no help at all from the relevant organisations.

Perhaps they owe you a duty of care?

Very long shot ....... miles and miles long ..... but could you contact a lawyer and see if you have any contract rights? I seem to recall something about a contract being valid, if all parties have operated under it / to it, for a long period. Effectively, even if there is some small error, no parties can use that as a means to escape, if they've been working happily under the contract for some time. So by repeatedly paying you, under the FiT scheme, 'they've' validated the application, by operating the contract?

I may be talking BS, and of course dealing with large organisations is never easy.

I do wish you the best of luck.

henrik777

If you used credit to pay for the install then section s75 makes the credit supplier jointly liable. That's who i'd pursue.

ispookie666

Difficult position to be in.  
If your installer (Electrician) had not renewed the registration, not much can be done - unless they are still trading.  It is possible the solar panel installation company was different to the Electrician.  

@Reed_Richards is correct - with problems in the paperwork, you should not have been able to claim FiT.  I do not know if they can claim the FiT payments back.   If you are concerned about feeding free electricity - you could put the export to 0.  

Maybe add a few more panels as incentive for the New installer to help with MCS certification?  

I hope Ofgem come up with some resolution for this.  

jasee

Martyn1981 said:

Wow that's cruel. So had the information / documentation / membership been checked at the time, you could have done something about it and got a new MCS cert from A. N. Other, in order to complete the FiT application, but now you are getting no help at all from the relevant organisations.

Perhaps they owe you a duty of care?

Very long shot ....... miles and miles long ..... but could you contact a lawyer and see if you have any contract rights? I seem to recall something about a contract being valid, if all parties have operated under it / to it, for a long period. Effectively, even if there is some small error, no parties can use that as a means to escape, if they've been working happily under the contract for some time. So by repeatedly paying you, under the FiT scheme, 'they've' validated the application, by operating the contract?

I may be talking BS, and of course dealing with large organisations is never easy.

I do wish you the best of luck.

Thanks. I think there should be mileage in 'unfair contracts' This seems totally one sided, I have no right to any redress.

My main reason for coming here was to contact the other people (51) who have also had their FITS cancelled or suspended according to Ofgem.I asked them to tell me how many, they told me the numbers but they wouldn't reveal any details. If enough people get together then we can probably afford to consult a lawyer..

gefnew

You could have a look through this and see if anything is relevant to your case.
Dispute resolution | Ofgem

ispookie666

@jasee GDPR 

jasee

gefnew said:

You could have a look through this and see if anything is relevant to your case.
Dispute resolution | Ofgem

Yes, that's a useful page, I think I will contact BEIS as the system doesn't seem to be workiing properly