Compensation for delayed and ultimately wrong product (solar battery) delivered?

SAIL

I had solar panels and a 5kWh battery installed a couple of years ago with a view to expanding the battery capacity when I had the funds (this was a fundamental selling point). Last June, after a lot of research and quotes from the few supplies who could actually source the correct (they assured me) batteries, I paid a £500 deposit (of a £2000 quote) to double the battery storage capacity, including delivery and installation. 

Since then it has been an utter shambles (with people at the company concerned admitting this). Nearly 6 months later, I am left with no new batteries and (1) have lost a summer's worth of using off peak stored electricity and (2) selling excess solar back to the grid when they need it at peak times (instead having to pay the day rate, which is three times the overnight rate, for all use over what my panels can generate). In the last couple of months as solar generation has declined dramatically and I would have been relying on battery power even more, it has cost me considerably more.

One of the main reasons I am upset though is that (3) for my system (FoxESS cubes) when adding new batteries, they are only ever as good as the most degraded battery in the stack. In the last 6 months, my original batteries are considerably more degraded that they were in June, devaluing any new batteries added. 

I started asking for my deposit back around 10 weeks ago and was assured that it would be returned on Saturday, when they collected the batteries they had sent with the wrong connector (I ask asked them a number of times about this - soo frustrating).

The main, main reason for this post however, is that the correct batteries were hard to source 6 months ago, and now, it would seem almost impossible, leaving the only option for a larger system being to replace the whole lot. I suggest the company in question could do that for me but I don't think they took me seriously! Obviously I'm expecting my deposit back but do I have any legal basis for asking for compensation beyond that, given the points mentioned above?

Sorry for the long post, but any insights into what I should/could ask for would be most welcome.

Thanks,
Sally

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

If they breach the contract you may generally claim any damages that are foreseeable and stem directly from the breach. 

In principle you are entitled to be in the position you would have had been in had the breach not occurred. 

If there was a timeframe for install then you could probably claim the cost of buying electricity minus what you got for exporting into the grid based on what the batteries would have held. 

If you have to spend more to get the same batteries then you can claim the addition cost. 

Not sure on the batteries being depleted, I appreciate they may have done to some extent but presumably it’s not that much? I guess if you can quantify it then you could claim it. 

If you add all that up and ask them for it they might offer you something, if they don’t, or you aren’t happy with their offer, you can send a letter before action and file through small claims. 

I would advise some professional advice, or at least running it by CAB, before starting small claims based solely on my advice 🙂

mta999

also it depends entirely on the terms and conditions of the order as these form part of the contract.

HHarry

If your original batteries are “considerably more degraded that they were in June” then it’s probably best to replace the lot anyway.

But go for a different brand - something that doesn’t suffer such considerable performance loss in just 5 months.

SAIL

Thanks all. I guess I did lose perspective a bit over the battery degradation, it is only a few percent!

Do a series of emails and an invoice count as a contract? A lot was done by phone.

Tx

MattMattMattUK

Even a few percent in five months is not great, unless you are deep cycling them 1% so far would be the most I would expect . 

Unfortunately I am not sure you can hold them responsible for a product being unavailable now you wish to install more of them.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

SAIL said:

Thanks all. I guess I did lose perspective a bit over the battery degradation, it is only a few percent!

Do a series of emails and an invoice count as a contract? A lot was done by phone.

Tx

Install would be a service so anything the trader says or writes (relating to going ahead with the service) would be part of the contract 

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/section/50

More info you have in the email and on the invoice to show such was such the better.

Ectophile

The Limitation Act gives you 6 years to claim for a breach of contract (5 in Scotland).

So potentially, you could have a claim for the whole installation.  But if it was over £10k, it would be a good idea to seek legal advice before starting any claim.  Because it won't go through the small claims process, and that means significant costs against you if you lose.  Even if it's less than £10k, it still might not go through as a small claim if the judge thinks it's too complex.

saajan_12

In pricinple something they AGREED to in email can be part of the contract, its doesn't have to be nicely formatted and signed. However speculative comments that they expect to have stock in the future wouldn't usually be firm enough to be an agreement, rather just good faith indications. So replacing the whole system on their dime is a very very long shot. 

You may have a decent argument for the deposit and increased cost of the energy due to not having the batteries for an unreasonably long time after the delivery date. This could however be quite an intricate calculation so be careful and make it simple enough for someone to understand before giving up. 

Re the degradation, if the new battery was delivered on time, the first ones would still have been 5 months worth of degraded, and you could replace all of them on the timescale of the first ones. If you're paid back for the electricity cost due to not having the battery for the last few months, doesn't that make you whole?