Solar mis-selling: what counts and what to do

What the law now says

Misleading actions — section 226 covers false or misleading information about products or traders, deceptive overall presentation, marketing that creates confusion with a competitor’s brand, and failure to comply with a code of conduct the trader claims to follow.

That last limb matters here. An installer who displays a consumer code logo and then breaches the code is potentially engaged in a misleading action, not merely a code breach.

Misleading omissions — section 227 covers omitting material information the consumer needs to make an informed decision, failing to disclose commercial intent, and providing information unclearly or too late.

Omission is the limb that fits solar best, because the commonest problem is not a lie. It is a savings figure presented without the assumptions that produce it.

Alongside it, section 49 implies into every service contract a term that “the trader must perform the service with reasonable care and skill” — which is the route for a badly executed installation as opposed to a badly described one.

What mis-selling looks like in solar

Not an exhaustive list, and none of these is automatically unlawful — the question is always whether it misled you into a decision.

Generation or savings overstated. The recurring one. A figure that no system in that location, at that pitch and orientation, could produce. Our generation dataset exists partly so this is checkable: if a quote implies more than about 1,050 kWh per kWp, it is above anything we model anywhere in the UK at 35° facing south.

Self-consumption assumed silently and generously. The single biggest lever on savings. MCS’s own guidance note gives figures far lower than most sales material assumes — our self-consumption page sets out what MGD 003 actually says, and records that our own calculators were wrong about this until we read it.

Shading not assessed, or ignored. MIS 3002 requires a shade factor in the performance estimate and entitles you to the sunpath diagram where it is below 1.00. A performance figure with no shading allowance on a shaded roof is not an estimate.

Export income overstated. Quoting a headline export rate without saying it is tied to an import tariff, or using a rate the customer cannot actually get. Our SEG table shows the spread.

Government backing implied. Nobody at your door is from a government scheme. Grants are narrower than usually implied.

Finance presented as a monthly payment, without the total amount payable or the APR.

Paperwork promised and not delivered. MCS certificate, building regulations certificate, DNO notification. A promise of documents that never arrive is a straightforward breach.

Pressure and false urgency. Covered on doorstep sales.

Evidence: the part that decides it

A mis-selling claim is an evidence problem more than a legal one.

Keep everything you were shown. Brochures, printed estimates, screens photographed. A performance claim you cannot evidence is a claim you cannot make. If you are still at the sales stage, photograph anything shown to you and not left with you.

Write down verbal claims immediately, with the date and who said it. Contemporaneous notes carry weight.

Send a confirming email. “Thank you for visiting today. To confirm my understanding, you said the system would generate X kWh and save £Y a year.” An unchallenged reply is strong evidence, and it engages section 50 directly.

Keep the finance paperwork. It is the route to section 75.

Get the modelled comparison. A figure from an independent model, for your location, pitch and orientation, is what turns a complaint into a case.

What to do

1. Write to the installer. Set out what was represented, what the system actually does, and what you want. Reference section 50 if a specific claim was made to you.

2. Claim under section 75 if credit was involved. The lender is jointly and severally liable for misrepresentation. This is often the most effective route, and it survives the installer’s insolvency.

3. Use the consumer code’s dispute service. RECC or HIES — the routes are compared here. Note that the Energy Ombudsman does not cover installations.

4. Report it to trading standards, via Citizens Advice. Enforcement under the DMCCA sits with local weights and measures authorities and the CMA. It will not recover your money, and it is how patterns get noticed.

5. Court, if it comes to it. The small claims track handles modest sums without a solicitor.

What is not mis-selling

Worth being fair about, because a complaint that overreaches is easier to dismiss.

A system that performs within a few per cent of estimate. Year-to-year weather variation is roughly 2.4% to 4.1% at one standard deviation across our reference locations. A modest shortfall is normal.

An honest estimate that assumed something you changed. If the figure assumed you were home during the day and your circumstances changed, that is not misrepresentation.

A range you were given and did not read. A properly presented estimate with visible assumptions is doing what it should.

Disappointment with the technology as such. Solar in the UK generates what it generates. Our figures are published so that expectations can be set before purchase rather than litigated afterwards.