The Government Is Quietly Changing Your FIT Solar Payments

Goldwing1

Martin has listened and is researching the issue https://www.facebook.com/share/p/19rppJ575E/

zaber86

[Deleted User] said:

I wonder if there is a single person who signed up for the FIT scheme who would have even considered the difference between CPI and RPI at the time they signed, and if they had whether it would have made a blind bit of difference to their decision?

I did, I knew RPI tends to stay higher than CPI. I also took out a loan for the panels, so the difference actually matters.  

I also have a student loan set by RPI, will i get a refund on the difference in interest i have accumulated over the years if this change goes ahead? 

[Deleted User]

zaber86 said:

[Deleted User] said:

I wonder if there is a single person who signed up for the FIT scheme who would have even considered the difference between CPI and RPI at the time they signed, and if they had whether it would have made a blind bit of difference to their decision?

I did, I knew RPI tends to stay higher than CPI. I also took out a loan for the panels, so the difference actually matters.  

I also have a student loan set by RPI, will i get a refund on the difference in interest i have accumulated over the years if this change goes ahead? 

Thanks, yes I can now see why some people would have been more focused on the RPI/CPI distinction than I was.

If the payments had been set to rise with CPI from the outset would you have still gone ahead? 

If you look at the other thread on this you'll see that it was made clear in the FIT contract that things could change so hopefully that was also something you considered.

As far as the Student Loan is concerned that's a different discussion for a different thread but as a matter of general principle I do think that it would be appropriate to use the same measure everywhere which is one of the reasons why I support the idea of using CPI for FIT going forward (and would support a similar change in respect of Student Loans).  I don't support the idea of backdating the use of CPI retrospectively, though, either for FIT payments or Student Loan repayments.

Goldwing1

Having checked my contract, RPI can ONLY be replaced if RPI is no longer calculated. 

[Deleted User]

Goldwing1 said:

Having checked my contract, RPI can ONLY be replaced if RPI is no longer calculated. 

Interesting thanks - when was your contract taken out? Would you mind cutting and pasting the relevant text here or in the other thread on this as it helps inform the discussion? 

Goldwing1

The words in my contract are;
"RPI" means the general index of retail prices from table RP02 published in the Digest of Statistics by the Office of National Statistics or, if the index ceases to be published, by any other retail price index published in substitution for it."

Edit: I forgot to say, this was April 2010.

gefnew

• 2030 Transition: The government has announced that RPI will be phased out by February 2030. After this date, the methodology of CPIH, which includes housing costs, will be applied to RPI, effectively aligning the two measures. 

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• Impact on Financial Agreements: Existing agreements that rely on RPI for indexation will need to be reviewed to avoid disputes after 2030. Stakeholders are encouraged to negotiate suitable replacement indices ahead of time. 

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rpsw

RPI was agreed at the start of the contract. And if RPI is not a "fair and accurate" measure of inflation, why is it being proposed as the measure for the increase in fuel duty from April 2027?

Goldwing1

We're screwed. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6979036c316fd8f801552089/fits-inflation-indexation-consultation-response.pdf

Scot_39

no the general consumers are the ones being done over.

tge ones who have to pay the 0.71p/kWh extra to pay for FIT

as will pay not just 75p+ now - but even more on contracts with upto 12 years still at those near 10x market rates as tracked by Ofgem at tge tine consultation was running