Fury as green deal hits house sale
agent’s sign went up. They put in an offer which I accepted.
“But two days later they pulled out because of the solar panels. They loved the house but didn’t want to take on the debt.”
Kim’s meter collects £40 a month until 2037. She can only get out of the contract if she pays £ 3258 to the Green Deal Finance Company.
But as she also signed over the rights to the feed-in tariff from the panels – the money made by generat ing and expor t ing electricity – they must stay on the roof for 20 years.
The firm who own Kim’s feed-in tariff are PV Solar Investments Ltd, who have the same director as HELMS, Robert Skillen.
Her only way out of that part of the deal is to buy the feed-in tariff back from PV Solar for £4700. Kim, of Coatbridge, said: “I feel totally misled and taken advantage of. I either stay put or pay £7958 to get out of this mess.”
PV Solar said: “We’re responsible only for the feed- in tar i f f assignment for this customer and had no direct part in the sales process for the overall system.
“However, we received certain information from HELMS and the customer took a compliance call five days after signing the contract.
“She understood she was entering into an unsecured credit agreement and understood its length. She also understood it was tied to her electricity meter.”
The Financial Ombudsman Service are investigating Kim’s case along with the 100 complaints they already have about HELMS.