Bought a house with solar panels....

[7795]

StanleyT said:

Fried paid for solar panels on a house he lost to the wife in the divorce. He still gets the FIT (few £00s per annumn), it was his nugget left in the financial seperation to remind her she hadn't quite got everything over him! He'd give them over when she asks, but as is the way she won't swallow her pride to ask. Whether she'll ever twig to stop him getting the meter readins remains to be seen but 3 years in and counting.

I can imagine your friend walks outside and smiles when he sees its a sunny day....twice!

[Skyedriver]

Sorry for the partial hijack.
One of the options I'm considering as part of an energy review on our new place near Oban is solar panels (PV?)
Do you go to a private company or one of the energy suppliers (Currently[no pun intended] SSE but possibly changing to Ovo).?

[Dogbash]

Update- Spoke to the chap yesterday and he says its taking a long time to sort out the switch because the solar panels were a commercial contract. He was running his business from the site so says he had the panels set up as a business contract.

Does this sound feasible or is he still talking rubbish?

I have proof I own the panels at it says they are included on the Property Information Form so will just go down the solicitor route if not.

Andrew

[Old Man Fred]

There is a 1% chance that he is being truthfull, and that is being generous

Setting up a business contract on a domestic house would be nearly impossible unless all the power from the solar panels was wired into just his study (or wherever he conducted the business from) and even then this would be taken as a one off case and need a site visit by EON etc to verify this.

I would phone EON and advise them that he says it is a business contract and see what they have it under. EON can tell you categorically if it is domestic or non-domestic. Also state you have the letter and he is delaying and advise exactly when you moved in and make it clear you want payments from that date. hopefully the solicitors letter confirms the date you are suggesting.

[Dogbash]

Update on this- true colours have finally come out. As suspected he wants paying to transfer the FIT to us.

He has always been cordial when I spoke with him and blamed it on other things so is obviously completely 2 faced.

I don't really care now. There is no way I am paying him any money even if I would be better of by doing so. Is there anything to stop be removing the panels from the roof? We own the panels? Presumably this will just stop the FIT completely?

Andrew

[Mr Pointy]

I'm not familiar with the detials of the wiring but isn't there an isolating switch you can use to disconnect the panels from the grid? I struggle to belive they are hardwired in.

[Zoon]

Mr Pointy said:

I'm not familiar with the detials of the wiring but isn't there an isolating switch you can use to disconnect the panels from the grid? I struggle to belive they are hardwired in.

I think you can switch the inverter off and it will stop feeding back to the grid.

[cptsideways]

Feed any surplus to a hot water tank immersion heater

[JimM169]

If it was me I'd call Eon make out I was the previous owner and get them to send through the forms, quick squiggle in the appropriate place and jobs done

[madcowman]

cptsideways said:

Feed any surplus to a hot water tank immersion heater

Wont affect the FIT at all. I get paid for all solar generated power , plus an assumed 50% export to the grid. If you have a tank then its worth making use of all of your solar with the immersion heater - even if they were metering the returned power to the grid, it wont really make a whole lot of difference as the rate for returned power to the grid is about 25% of the generation tariff.

[Old Man Fred]

Dogbash said:

Update on this- true colours have finally come out. As suspected he wants paying to transfer the FIT to us.

He has always been cordial when I spoke with him and blamed it on other things so is obviously completely 2 faced.

I don't really care now. There is no way I am paying him any money even if I would be better of by doing so. Is there anything to stop be removing the panels from the roof? We own the panels? Presumably this will just stop the FIT completely?

Andrew

You will need to check the pack when you bought the house but the panels would almost certainly be included and therefore be yours. Is he giving them false reads in order to still get the payments?

It may be a decent amount of money you should be getting if they were installed years ago so a quick phone call to the supplier could see you a few hundreds of pounds up per year, hence why he is so keen to keep it registered to him. Any confusion over ownership on the suppliers part could probably be resolved by the phone call and a visit by them or a photo of the meter from you

[coljoh148]

Offer him a one off offer of say 500 quid for his trouble otherwise you'll be disconnecting them from the grid.

Get him to sign the paperwork 1st and send it off prior to payment then once complete string him along in the same sense that he had here.

Cheques in the post.....takes a while to come etc

[KrazyIvan]

If EON only need a letter from your solicitor, then why are you bothering with the old owner?

[TonyRPH]

JimM169 said:

If it was me I'd call Eon make out I was the previous owner and get them to send through the forms, quick squiggle in the appropriate place and jobs done

Until the previous owner challenges it, and the OP is charged with fraud...

[Dogbash]

Hi all, my understanding is that he wont be receiving any payments for the FIT any more as you have to give quarterly meter readings which he wont be able to give.

He is saying it wasn't part of the contract when we bought the house. The solar panels are clearly stated as being included so we own those but it isn't written into the contract that he must transfer the FIT. He is now suggesting an independent percentage value consideration if we want to acquire the right. Basically, he wants money to sign the tariff over to us.

I've asked my solicitor to go back and get more information from the other side and we will decide how to proceed then. I don't hold out much hope though. There's no way I'm paying him any money now just out of principle even if I am cutting my own nose off. He has deliberately miss-lead us and lied to my face.

[Old Man Fred]

Dogbash said:

<snip> The solar panels are clearly stated as being included so we own those but it isn't written into the contract that he must transfer the FIT.

If you own the panels then there is no problem. He doesn't have to transfer the FiT, you have to do this. Call the supplier and ask for the FiT change of ownership form and fill them out. iirc for the domestic side, he wont know, they don't send him a letter telling him or anything.

Suppliers forms are generally available online, apart from British Gas who can be a pain but if they are your supplier let me know and i can email you the BG form!

[Dogbash]

Old Man Fred said:

If you own the panels then there is no problem. He doesn't have to transfer the FiT, you have to do this. Call the supplier and ask for the FiT change of ownership form and fill them out. iirc for the domestic side, he wont know, they don't send him a letter telling him or anything.

Suppliers forms are generally available online, apart from British Gas who can be a pain but if they are your supplier let me know and i can email you the BG form!

Tried this and even had my solicitor draft a letter saying I own them with proof of land registry file. I filled out all the forms for EON and sent them back along with solicitors letter they asked for but they are still refusing to transfer the FIT without approval of the previous owner.

This is the problem. I thought it would be as easy as you've said but it isn't.

Andrew

[Old Man Fred]

For a slightly more complete answer than my previous one...

Dogbash said:

Hi all, my understanding is that he wont be receiving any payments for the FIT any more as you have to give quarterly meter readings which he wont be able to give.

Correct, unless he is guessing at the reads

Dogbash said:

He is saying it wasn't part of the contract when we bought the house. The solar panels are clearly stated as being included so we own those but it isn't written into the contract that he must transfer the FIT. He is now suggesting an independent percentage value consideration if we want to acquire the right. Basically, he wants money to sign the tariff over to us.

see my reply above and don't even consider the valuation

Dogbash said:

I've asked my solicitor to go back and get more information from the other side and we will decide how to proceed then. I don't hold out much hope though. There's no way I'm paying him any money now just out of principle even if I am cutting my own nose off. He has deliberately miss-lead us and lied to my face.

Shouldn't need any more info but belt and braces won't hurt. This will turn out in your favour, maybe a visit to check who owns the house of a photo sent from you of the meter should be the most they need

[Old Man Fred]

Dogbash said:

Old Man Fred said:

If you own the panels then there is no problem. He doesn't have to transfer the FiT, you have to do this. Call the supplier and ask for the FiT change of ownership form and fill them out. iirc for the domestic side, he wont know, they don't send him a letter telling him or anything.

Suppliers forms are generally available online, apart from British Gas who can be a pain but if they are your supplier let me know and i can email you the BG form!

Tried this and even had my solicitor draft a letter saying I own them with proof of land registry file. I filled out all the forms for EON and sent them back along with solicitors letter they asked for but they are still refusing to transfer the FIT without approval of the previous owner.

This is the problem. I thought it would be as easy as you've said but it isn't.

Andrew

From EONs own website the bit about changing ownership
Eon Says"
Changes of Ownership, Assignment of Rights and Nominated Recipients
12.1 We will only make FiT Payments to the person named on the Central FiT Register as the Generator unless you have provided a Nominated Recipient.

12.2 If you are planning to transfer ownership of your Generation Unit(s) or make a change to the Nominated Recipient you must contact us to request a Transfer Form. When this form has been completed, signed, dated and returned to us along with the requested documentation, we will arrange for the Authority to update the Central FiT Register . We will then write to you and the new Generation Unit(s) owner to confirm that this change has taken place. You must notify us as soon as reasonably possible prior to your planned change of ownership and provide the relevant Meter Readings on the date of the change of ownership. FiT Payments will continue to be made to the person (or their Nominated Recipient) as named on the Central FiT Register.

12.3 Deleted as not applicable

12.4 If you have taken ownership of a Generation Unit that is already registered on the Central FiT Register, you will only receive FiT Payments for the duration of the period it remains eligible. Before any FiT Payments will be made you must agree to the Terms and Conditions of this Agreement and sign and date your FiT Plan. " my bold

Their conditions say nothing about approval from the previous owner, details taken from her https://www.eonenergy.com/for-your-home/products-a...


ETA - If they still tell you it can't be done you could be the one to break the awful news to them that the previous owner has passed away, been incarcerated etc..

Edited by Old Man Fred on Friday 10th August 13:55

[snake_oil]

All I can say is - fking hell. What a . (The vendor)