Australian residents warned over solar scam

Dubious home improvement companies and door-step scams aren't reserved just for homeowners in the UK, as this story from Queensland Australia warns.

Residents living on the Gold Coast have been warned after a string of complaints were received by their Office of Fair Trading.

The complaints relate to failure to deliver solar panels ordered by customers, mostly through telemarketing and door-to-door sales.

In some cases, residents had been offered a price reduction from $6600 to nil if they agreed to Australia's version of the UK's feed-in tariffs and agree to being a 'show home'. Residents had then been asked to hand over a $900 deposit.

Here in the UK, if you're thinking of installing solar panels on your property, then a safe place to start is getting an online quote. This will give you a rough expectation of cost before you get around to meeting any companies.

Try Solar Panel Quoter .co.uk today.

photo credit: ewen roberts

Beware of doorstep solar companies

The BBC reported the unfortunate events of one resident in Dorset, who handed over monies to a 'door-step' solar company in Dorset.

The minute the pensioner had handed over money, problems started.

Delays in starting the installation grew to a year and when they called to do some 'preliminary installation' work in the loft for which the homeowner handed over another considerable sum, it was later discovered they'd done nothing more than trail a few wires around an empty box.

Now the Office of Fair Trading has warned other homeowners to be on their guard against 'door step sellers' as solar panels become more popular and people start to take notice of the Government tariffs.

Unscrupulous firms may be targeting the elderly or those just retired and with lump sums / savings available to invest, warns the consumer watchdog in the BBC report (click here to read it in full).

At present, to qualify for the Government's feed-in tariffs, the solar installation must be carried out by a member of the Microgeneration Certification Scheme.

Like we did with the UPVC window industry 10 years ago with WindowQuoter, Home Improvement Quotes is helping homeowners by not only providing instant online solar panel quotes, but also offering (at their request) to put homeowners in touch with up to 3 reputable solar panel installation companies

photo credit: gareth jones