Green deal solar panels’ headache

This past weekend I spent time in Aberdeen at the SNP Spring Conference. We heard from activists and politicians from around the country on real issues such as education, equalities and pensions.

One of the issues discussed was the lack of consumer protection for householders who had signed up to the UK Government Green Deal Scheme.

These include dozens of customers who purchased Green Deal solar panels in Blantyre and Hamilton.

People were told that they would not pay any more for their electricity, that they could save money, and lastly that by signing up they would be helping the environment. However, in Blantyre, people were sold solar panel deals that did not live up to the promise.

In response to this problem, a series of public meetings has been held in conjunction with the Citizens’ Advice Bureau. So far, over 40 householders have attended and shared their experiences.

Time after time we have heard stories of high pressure sales techniques and sales people insisting on documents being signed at tea time door step calls. It is true that there was a 14 day cooling off period, however on the fifteenth day work was begun.

One of the key benefits of green technologies is the potential to generate green energy that feeds into the grid. However, these “feed-in tariffs” – the money householders were owed for generating electricity – were signed over to a third party with little if any explanation to the purchasers.

Through this deal, solar panels were fitted to roofs in Blantyre, which – last time I checked – was in South Lanarkshire, not the Costa Del Sol. Householders who have had these installed will have to repay the cost of these panels for the next 25 years through their electricity bills.

Solar Panels were also fitted to houses where the electricity meter was not compatible with their installed system. In fact, the meters were not only charging for energy used, they were charging the householders for their energy they were producing as well!

This meant that many people were paying twice, and this has resulted in huge energy bills for some people, and huge debts for others.

As well as the money from energy generation being signed away, the debt of the solar panels rests with the property, not with the individual house holder.

This has led to householders being unable to sell their properties, and sales are falling through because conveyancing lawyers are advising home buyers not to continue with a purchase of a home with these solar panels.

This is a real problem happening to real people. Recently, several thousands of pounds were lost by one of my constituents when a buyer withdrew their offer to buy her house after she had already put down a deposit on another property. She is now left with little prospect of attracting another buyer.

Solar panel deals were sold to customers who were told that these schemes were guaranteed by the Scottish Government, which was completely untrue. The solar panels were a Green Deal product promoted by the UK Government.

People entered these contracts in good faith. As far as they knew specialist government approved installers were offering them a great deal.

But the Ofgem-approved industry guarantee has proved to be worth very little, and the company, HELMS, that sold solar panels in Blantyre is now unfortunately in administration.

I say unfortunately because customers have been left without recourse whilst the Financial Ombudsman is still determining where the liability lies.

Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary Angela Constance and her team are currently looking to pursue the UK Government department responsible for a resolution on this issue, which has left so many Scottish customers out of pocket. I suspect, however, that the situation in Blantyre and Hamilton is just the tip of the iceberg as tens of thousands of these deals were sold across Scotland and the UK before the scheme was halted.

The SNP is working with local groups to identify the extent of the problem and will be looking to take their case to the UK Government.

If you have experience of the solar-panel mis-selling by HELMS, then please come along to the next meeting of the HELMS Action Group. We are meeting at Blantyre Miners’ Welfare Club on the 30th March at 7pm. You can find out more information at the Facebook group by visiting www.facebook.com/ Helmsactiongroup or by searching “HELMS Action Group” on Facebook.