Solar Panel Debt - Complex Issue

aimeelou1234

Hi, 

Sorry in advance, this issue is making our heads hurt! This has stemmed from my Grandad needing a new roof, but he has solar panels which we had no idea who they belonged to. 

I’ll try and summarise as best as I can: 

- My grandmother signed a contract to purchase solar panels back in 2014 from a door knocking company who have since gone bust. 

- They were clearly mis-sold them as they were told they would receive discounted energy bills, we’ve found out the energy collected goes to one of the main energy providers with nothing in return. There is literally no benefit which is so bizarre, they’ve literally just bought solar panels for the energy company to use their roof? 
- The panels cost £4000 in 2014 spread over 22 years!! A settlement today, 10 years later, is £3700!!!

- My grandmother was the sole person on the contract and she passed away in 2017 
- The energy firm said the finance of the panels automatically transfers to the energy bill payer, who is now my grandad 
- Their home is and has been for over 20 years in my Mum’s name. As the home owner she was never contacted for
permission to have these panels fitted. She wanted happy about it all the way back then but the work commenced anyway as a contract was signed. 

- My mum has had power of attorney for my grandad since 2021 and he has since been diagnosed with dementia, he has no capacity to deal with any of this and has never even noticed that his energy bills weren’t reduced 

My mum spoke with the energy provider, citizens advice and also the company who are providing the solar finance and no one has any idea where we go from here 

Energy provider directed my mum to the ombudsman, the ombudsman pushed back as my mum hasn’t made a complaint. Energy provider told her today that as my grandad owns the panels, he needs to settle the finance and he can do with them as he pleases. They are huge we have no idea where you’d even start to get rid of them and who to?  

Citizens advice just simply don’t know what to advise 

Hope this is all making some sort of sense so far 

My questions are: 
- Is this just an expensive mistake that my grandad should have to pay up for? 

- Should this debt have died with my grandmother as my grandfather did not sign any contract for it to be transferred in his name? 

- Who do I even complain to? The energy provider? The solar finance company? 

- Is it / has it been normal for homeowners to purchase solar panels when there is absolutely nothing in it for them?? 

Hours and hours have been spent on the phone and no further forward other than learning how scandalous this is and how my grandmother was completely mis-sold these panels by a company which are now conveniently bust 

 

PHK

Back then, if you'd bought solar panels you would need to have taken quarterly or six monthly readings, supplied them to an energy scheme which would have resulted in a payment to you. (The situation is different now)

I'm guessing that your dear Grandma wasn't up to following up the installation and might not even have understood what was necessary. 

Given the complexity of the situation and the time that has passed, you need an expert to review the contract and all the paperwork to advise you how to proceed. I'd suggest you ask a solicitor to recommend someone expert in that field. 

Don't delay, once you realise that you have a problem the clock starts ticking if you ever need to take legal action. 

Grumpy_chap

aimeelou1234 said:

- Should this debt have died with my grandmother as my grandfather did not sign any contract for it to be transferred in his name? 

If your Grandmother had sufficient finances in her Estate at the time of death, then the Estate would have become liable for settling the debt.

Ectophile

Some random thoughts:-

• A solar install should have come with an MCS certificate saying that it was properly installed.
• Back in 2014, an install (with an MCS certificate) should have qualified for Feed In Tariff (FIT) payments.  That was a generous subsidy for anyone installing solar.  But you had to apply for it.  The scheme is now closed - they aren't accepting any new claims.
• An install with an MCS certificate should still qualify for Smart Export Guarantee (SEG), if you also have a modern (SMETS2) smart meter.  The electricity supplier credits you a small payment for each unit that the smart meter records as being exported.  Again, you have to apply for it.
• Even with no subsidies or other payments, you still save money with a solar install, but it never appears on your bills.  By the laws of Physics alone, your home has "first dibs" on any electricity generated by the panels.  So if you use appliances when it's sunny, you're using free electricity.  You use electricity from the grid as normal when the sun goes down, and unless you sign up for SEG, you don't get paid for anything you generate but don't use yourself.

Do check if the solar is still working.  It's all too common for the older inverters to fail after a few years.  They were pretty rubbish back then.  If it has failed, I don't suppose the finance company will do anything to help.  You'd need someone to install a new inverter.

sevenhills

aimeelou1234 said:

- My grandmother signed a contract to purchase solar panels back in 2014 from a door knocking company who have since gone bust. 

- They were clearly mis-sold them as they were told they would receive discounted energy bills, we’ve found out the energy collected goes to one of the main energy providers with nothing in return. There is literally no benefit which is so bizarre, they’ve literally just bought solar panels for the energy company to use their roof? 
- The panels cost £4000 in 2014 spread over 22 years!! A settlement today, 10 years later, is £3700!!!

Do not start with the assumption that the panels were mis-sold. Solar does reduce your energy bills, but you wouldn't know what their bills would have been, prices have increased massively.

What was the interest rate and how much was paid?

Keep_pedalling

As these were purchased rather than the rent a roof type install your grandmother should have been receiving feed in payments which I think for 2014 installation currently stand at around 20p pkWh, but that would require someone submitting the readings from the feed in meter to which ever energy it was set up with back in 2014 ( if that was ever done)

As for the loan this should have been dealt with at the time of your grand mother’s death. The debt should have been paid from any funds available after funeral costs had been met. If there were insufficient funds left in her estate to pay the debt then the estate was insolvent and her creditors should have been informed that was the case because debts cannot be inherited.

PHK

Keep_pedalling said:

As these were purchased rather than the rent a roof type install your grandmother should have been receiving feed in payments which I think for 2014 installation currently stand at around 20p pkWh, but that would require someone submitting the readings from the feed in meter to which ever energy it was set up with back in 2014 ( if that was ever done)

As for the loan this should have been dealt with at the time of your grand mother’s death. The debt should have been paid from any funds available after funeral costs had been met. If there were insufficient funds left in her estate to pay the debt then the estate was insolvent and her creditors should have been informed that was the case because debts cannot be inherited.

That last bit might not be correct (it would be if the funding was a simple loan taken out by the grandma but not if a more complicated arrangement)

It's really important that all the paperwork is looked at by a lawyer to unpick the situation 

sevenhills

PHK said:

That last bit might not be correct (it would be if the funding was a simple loan taken out by the grandma but not if a more complicated arrangement)

It's really important that all the paperwork is looked at by a lawyer to unpick the situation 

It's all irrelevant, it happened in 2014, Grandma passed away in 2017(six years of loan payments paid/unpaid) and no one knows the details, just get on with it. I am hoping £4k is just a small part of the estate.

Keep_pedalling

sevenhills said:

PHK said:

That last bit might not be correct (it would be if the funding was a simple loan taken out by the grandma but not if a more complicated arrangement)

It's really important that all the paperwork is looked at by a lawyer to unpick the situation 

It's all irrelevant, it happened in 2014, Grandma passed away in 2017(six years of loan payments paid/unpaid) and no one knows the details, just get on with it. I am hoping £4k is just a small part of the estate.

Despite the time gap it if far from irrelevent, there is still a considerable amount owed on the loan so the exact situation needs to be resolved.  

aimeelou1234

Thanks all 

Yes I think the best thing will be for a solicitor to look through this 

We never knew these were financed unfortunately and assumed they were bought out right. 

My grandad knew no information about them so it’s only when looking into a new roof which will require them to be removed, we looked into as wasn’t sure if they ‘belonged’ to an energy company before touching them 

We’ve often asked over the years about them and neither of my grandparents knew much about them so yes, I doubt readings were sent 

I guess the DD continued without his knowledge for all these years as the bank details never changed after she passed away 

Not sure what the interest is but it’s obviously not great as loan for £4000 was over 22 years, paying £30 per month. Settlement figure as of this week is £3,700 - sounds unbelievable doesn’t it