Barclays bank busted for misleading customers on solar home “investment” that loses money

Tell me again how solar power is cheaper than fossil fuels

People in the UK have been misled into taking out loans to put solar panels on their roof — they were told the panels would “pay for themselves” but discovered they were losing money. The UK Ombudsman has received around 2,000 complaints.

Solar manufacturers paired up with banks to install and finance solar installations telling customers they’d make money, except many didn’t:

… a common method was to encourage households to buy the panels on credit from a partner lender. Households were often told that the subsidy income, combined with the savings from buying less electricity, would more than cover the loan repayments. In some cases this proved to be false.

Many of those to whom panels were allegedly mis-sold were either “retired or approaching retirement” and some were “left in financial difficulty”, the financial ombudsman said. One customer was left £1,000 a year worse off.

We can all say fair’s fair, do your homework before you buy. But under UK law, the partner-banks are responsible for the financial scam not the solar manufacturers (and not the customers). Presumably the banks were the ones selling solar panels as if they were a get rich quick scheme.

Our whole nation has been fooled by a solar scheme. Just call us patsies-downunder.

h/t GWPF

[The Times, UK] Although the sales were made by solar companies, consumer credit laws put the banks that provided the loans on the hook for any alleged mis-selling.

Many of the complaints are still being processed but the ombudsman confirmed that its adjudicators, who give the initial verdict on cases, have upheld some complaints against all three. The exact number has not been disclosed.

The ombudsman said it was “telling the credit providers involved to put things right” and was “beginning to see many consumers receiving offers from the lenders to settle these complaints”.

Banks can be told to remove the panels, cancel credit agreements and refund payments made.

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