Solar Panel installer has gone into liquidation

ElefantEd

I'm not sure whether it's likely but I thought I'd see if anyone has any useful advice.

I'm the treasurer of a village hall. We recently applied for a grant from a government scheme (run by the local third sector interface) to install solar panels + batteries. We got 3 quotes and chose one (which was one of the suppliers recommended by the scheme). The grant (total £12k) is paid in two stages, we got the first half and duly paid the invoices from the supplier for a deposit (£3100) and the next  payment of £4400 - due 21 days days before the work started.

We were given a start date (week beginning 17th Nov), which was then put back - due to "bad weather delaying other work". They stopped being communicative, I chased them several times, then this morning got an email saying that unfortunately they were going into liquidation and wouldn't be able to do the work. Or return our money.

We can't do a chargeback as we paid by BACS, which we would normally do, nor can the bank help. We may eventually get something back from the liquidators but I doubt it as apparently they owe taxes.

We will obviously be in discussion with the grant awarding body about what to do - not so much about the solar panels but about the £6k grant which we've spent but won't be able to give back if the work isn't done. We have approx £3k in the bank.

Personally I hope the director is prosecuted and found liable for the debts of his company as it seems clear that he wasn't accepting deposits and payments for work he knew was highly unlikely to be done. However that doesn't help in the immediate future.

Would be grateful for any thoughts and insights!

Savvy_Sue

I have no helpful advice, but please keep us updated on the journey....

Keep_pedalling

I am afraid you will join all the other creditors hoping to get some of their money back from thd liquidators, but this is likely to be a long process and you are only likely to get pennies back for each pound you gave them. You need to find out who the liquidators are and lodge your claim with them. 

Ayr_Rage

ElefantEd said:

Personally I hope the director is prosecuted and found liable for the debts of his company as it seems clear that he wasn't accepting deposits and payments for work he knew was highly unlikely to be done. However that doesn't help in the immediate future.

Would be grateful for any thoughts and insights!

Do you believe he WAS accepting deposits and payments for work not likely to be done?

In any case, if it is the company that has gone bust it's unlikely he'll have any personal liability unless there is fraud involved.

Savvy_Sue

Ayr_Rage said:

ElefantEd said:

Personally I hope the director is prosecuted and found liable for the debts of his company as it seems clear that he wasn't accepting deposits and payments for work he knew was highly unlikely to be done. However that doesn't help in the immediate future.

Would be grateful for any thoughts and insights!

Do you believe he WAS accepting deposits and payments for work not likely to be done?

In any case, if it is the company that has gone bust it's unlikely he'll have any personal liability unless there is fraud involved.

And the charity needs to take a pragmatic view on where to expend their efforts, IMO

ElefantEd

I'm personally pretty sure he knew perfectly well that he wasn't going to be able to fulfil the contract, from the timing of communications etc. Whether there is sufficient evidence to make him personally liable is of course unknown and even it it were it would take a long time before we saw any cash (if ever).

Pragmatically we will focus on talking to the funder (ultimately the Scottish government) to persuade them to write off the grant so we don't have to repay it and 'all' we'll have lost is £1700 of our reserves. Which would be annoying but bearable.

silverwhistle

Is there any leverage to be had anywhere in the fact that the supplier was recommended?

ElefantEd

silverwhistle said:

Is there any leverage to be had anywhere in the fact that the supplier was recommended?

We are hoping so!

ElefantEd

Thought I'd pop back with a more positive update. One of our local residents who had just retired offered - with absurd generosity to cover the lost money. So we engaged one of the other contractors, who is finishing the job off today. This means we'll be able to claim the balance of the grant and have ended up with the system we wanted.

I will still follow up on what happens with the original company but will expend as little effort as possible.

QrizB

ElefantEd said:

Thought I'd pop back with a more positive update. One of our local residents who had just retired offered - with absurd generosity to cover the lost money. So we engaged one of the other contractors, who is finishing the job off today. This means we'll be able to claim the balance of the grant and have ended up with the system we wanted.

That's a marvellous example of communty spirit!

ElefantEd said:

I will still follow up on what happens with the original company but will expend as little effort as possible.

It would be interesting to know how it all turns out.