Brassneck of loans boss with zero shame

HE IS accused of having the ‘brassiest of brass necks’. Robert Skillen ran Helms, the company that ripped off thousands over the Green Deal, MPs have alleged in Parliament. But while many of the company’s victims are now trapped in homes they can’t sell, and involved said to be spending much of Mr Skillen is the sunshine abroad. his time soaking up

He recently updated his Facebook profile picture to show him laughing on a golf buggy (left). And he is even accused of ‘seeking to profit’ from the scandal after setting up a company called True Solar Savings, for people to find out how much they lost under the deal.

SNP MP Gavin Newlands told the Commons: ‘He has fleeced us once, but now wants to assist us in getting redress from his own company’s miso shame, and his outrageous lack of recognition of his culpability is astounding.’

Mr Skillen has also kept his £1million home in Glasgow’s upmarket West End, where he has recently returned to defend himself.

When the Mail caught up with him he was on the golf course, but called back — after finishing his game — to strenuously deny all the allegations.

He blamed the problems on Government approved software which he claims exaggerated the predicted savings on solar panels by 400pc — and even promised to give anyone who can prove him wrong £10 million.

In a recent parliamentary debate, Mr Newlands described the company’s behaviour as ‘inexcusable.’ He added: ‘The use of classic dodgy salesman tactics — overstaying in customers’ homes to intimidate them into a sale, blatant falsifying of figures, misleading documentation, fraudulent marking of signatures, insistence on inappropriate works and outright lying to elderly, vulnerable individuals — has pushed victims into deeper fuel poverty and debt, with no access to a quick and effective remedy.

‘In the majority of cases that I have seen, individuals were sold solar panels regardless of need or suitability. Helms was accredited and promoted, under the Government banner, allowing it to enter homes and sell under a false umbrella of trust.’

Fellow SNP MP Dr Philippa Whitford said most homeowners who signed up were in their 70s and 80s — one with dementia, another with almost total blindness.

She said: ‘It was not, on any level, the selling of solar panels. It was fraud.’ Labour MP Paul Sweeney said it was ‘appalling’ that Mr Skillen had refused to accept ‘the harm he has caused to thousands of people, who cannot sleep at night. I hope he will realise the impact he has had on them.’

Mr Skillen insists he has been made a ‘scapegoat’ for the Green Deal fiasco and that the entire problem stems from a mistake made by the Government about the price of solar energy.

He says: ‘The Government knowingly gave people already in fuel poverty solar loans of approximately £330 per year for 23 years when they knew the true savings were about £80.

‘If I’m wrong, I’ll sell everything I won and pay £10 million compensation.’

He says his new website does not make him any money, but is to help those who lost out under the Green Deal.

All of the work Helms carried out was backed with a ten-year guarantee, he added.