Your Solar Installer Has Gone Bust —
Here’s What to Do
Monitoring locked to an account you can’t access. Workmanship warranty void. No one to call. Documentation that was never handed over. This is an increasingly common situation in UK solar — and most of it is recoverable. Here’s the complete picture.
Our System Recovery service handles the full picture — monitoring transfer, documentation rebuild, warranty escalation, fault diagnosis, and a written condition report. One engagement, everything covered.
System Recovery Service — from £249 → Book a call to discuss →We’re independent — not affiliated with any installer, manufacturer, or trade body. We work for you.
What to do first when you find out your installer has ceased trading
The order matters here. Some of these steps have time limits or require action before records are lost.
Check Companies House (gov.uk/get-information-about-a-company) to confirm whether the company has been dissolved, struck off, or gone into administration. This matters for consumer protection claims — HIES and RECC have different processes depending on whether the company is in administration or simply dissolved. Keep a record of the status and date.
Look at the inverter display during daylight hours. A kW output figure means the system is generating regardless of monitoring status. A fault code or blank display needs investigation. Don’t assume a monitoring outage means the system has stopped — monitoring and generation are completely separate.
Find everything you received at installation: MCS certificate, DNO notification, inverter and battery warranty cards, panel spec sheets, commissioning report, any HIES or RECC certificate. Note which are missing — this determines what needs to be recovered.
Search both the HIES register (hiesscheme.org.uk) and RECC register (recc.org.uk) for the installer company name. If they were a registered member at the time of your installation, you may have consumer protection covering up to £2,500 of remedial work, deposit protection, and a complaint process. This is time-sensitive — protection schemes have claim windows.
If you paid a deposit or the full amount by credit card and the contract value exceeded £100, Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act may give you a claim against the card issuer. For debit cards, Chargeback may apply. Contact your bank or card provider — there are time limits, so do this early.
Time-sensitive: HIES and RECC consumer protection claims, Section 75 claims, and administrator claims all have time limits. If your installer has recently ceased trading, act on consumer protection steps as a priority before investigating the system itself.
Monitoring locked to the installer’s account
A common practice among UK solar installers was to register all monitoring systems under a single company account, often without setting up individual homeowner logins. When the company closes, access disappears. This is recoverable in most cases — the system and its data still exist on the manufacturer’s servers. You just need to claim ownership.
The full process for claiming an orphaned monitoring account — what documentation manufacturers need, how to find your system serial number, and typical timescales for each brand.
Recover monitoring access →We contact the manufacturer directly, provide proof of property ownership and system serial number, and complete the transfer into your account. We know exactly what each brand requires and how to escalate when standard routes fail.
Use transfer service →How to tell the difference between a monitoring access problem and an actual generation fault — and why the inverter display is always the most reliable first check regardless of what the app shows.
Understand monitoring offline →Brand-specific orphaned account recovery
What’s still covered — and what isn’t
There are typically three separate warranty types on a solar installation, and they behave differently when an installer ceases trading.
Inverter (5–12 yr), battery (5–10 yr), and panel (10–25 yr) warranties are with the manufacturer directly — not the installer. These remain valid regardless of installer status. Claim by contacting the manufacturer with your serial number and proof of purchase.
✓ Claim directly with manufacturerThe installation workmanship warranty (typically 1–5 years) was issued by the installer. When they cease trading, there is no one to honour it. Workmanship faults — miswired CT clamps, undersized cables, poor mounting — are no longer covered.
✗ Void on installer closureIf the installer was HIES or RECC registered, there may be consumer protection covering remedial work up to £2,500 and deposit protection. Check both registers using the installer’s company name.
? Check HIES and RECC registersFinding your serial number, contacting the manufacturer, what documentation you need, and what to do when the manufacturer says the claim must go through an installer.
Make warranty claim →How to check whether your installer was registered, what the protection covers, how to submit a claim, and typical timescales.
Check HIES / RECC →Documentation that was never handed over — or has been lost
Installers who go bust often leave behind incomplete documentation. MCS certificates not registered, DNO notifications never filed, warranty cards never submitted. Most of this is recoverable from independent registers — but it requires knowing where to look.
How to search the MCS public database, what to do if the installation was never registered, and what to do if you suspect the system was installed without MCS certification.
Recover MCS certificate →G98 and G99 notifications must be submitted to your Distribution Network Operator. If your installer never did this, the system is technically non-compliant. How to check DNO records and what to do if notification is missing.
Check DNO status →If most documentation is missing, we handle the complete rebuild: MCS certificate retrieval, DNO verification, manufacturer registration, warranty status confirmation, and a full system record you can rely on.
Start documentation rebuild →Documentation status — what’s recoverable
System has a fault and there’s no installer to call
Some faults on orphaned systems have been present for months — misreported before the installer closed, or developing slowly since installation. A remote diagnostic is the fastest way to establish what’s actually wrong and whether it falls under manufacturer warranty, workmanship, or an operational fix.
Before any repair decisions, a structured remote diagnostic identifies exactly what’s wrong, whether it’s covered by manufacturer warranty, and what the repair options are. Written report included — useful for any warranty or consumer protection claim. From £89.
Book remote diagnostic →CT clamp miswiring, undersized DC cables, poor earthing, or incorrect export limit configuration — common installation errors that surface after the fact. Most are correctable by an independent engineer. We assess and quote before any work begins.
Assess workmanship fault →If you’ve already identified the fault category — inverter, battery, monitoring, grid — go to the full triage guide for detailed diagnosis steps covering every common UK solar fault type.
Go to fault guide →A written engineer report identifying fault type and cause provides the evidence base needed for manufacturer warranty claims and HIES/RECC complaints.
Consumer protection routes available to you
Depending on how you paid, when the system was installed, and which trade body the installer belonged to, you may have more options than you realise. These routes operate independently of the installer — the company being dissolved doesn’t remove your claim rights.
Home Insulation & Energy Systems scheme. Covers remedial work up to £2,500, deposit protection, and alternative dispute resolution. Applies only if installer was HIES-registered at time of installation.
Check HIES →Renewable Energy Consumer Code. Similar protection to HIES — deposit cover, remedial work, ADR process. Different register; check both independently.
Check RECC →If you paid any portion by credit card and the contract value exceeded £100, the card issuer is jointly liable under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. Contact your card provider.
Section 75 guide →Debit card payments may be eligible for a Chargeback request through your bank, typically within 120 days of the transaction. Not guaranteed but worth pursuing for recent payments.
Chargeback guide →HIES, RECC, and Section 75 claims are significantly stronger with an independent engineer report identifying fault type and cause. We provide this as part of the System Recovery service.
The System Recovery service handles everything in one engagement
Rather than working through each element separately, System Recovery brings everything together: monitoring transfer, documentation rebuild, fault diagnosis, warranty claim support, and a written condition report. You end up with a fully documented, properly supported system — independent of the installer that’s gone.
Full recovery engagement — monitoring transfer, documentation rebuild, diagnostic, warranty support, and written condition report.
Start System Recovery — £249 →If you just need the fault identified and documented first, before deciding on next steps.
Remote-first. Written reports within 24 hours. Independent — not affiliated with any installer.
Similar situation — no documentation, monitoring locked to a previous account, unknown system. The new owner journey covers system identification, monitoring transfer, MCS documentation, and a health check.
New owner guide →Full fault triage guide covering every common solar fault type — inverter problems, battery issues, monitoring offline, grid faults, and export problems.
Go to fault guide →Common questions when your installer has gone bust
The installer workmanship warranty is void — there is no one left to honour it. However, manufacturer warranties on your inverter, battery, and panels are entirely separate and remain valid. You can claim directly with the manufacturer. If the installer was HIES or RECC registered, there may also be consumer protection covering remedial work. Manufacturer warranty claim guide →
Yes, if the installation was registered. The MCS database is independent of the installer — search mcscertified.com using your postcode and approximate installation year. If it was never registered, this requires a HIES/RECC complaint or legal route. MCS recovery guide →
The data is almost certainly still there — it sits on the manufacturer’s servers, not the installer’s. Most manufacturers have a process for orphaned system ownership transfer. Historical data is usually retained and becomes accessible once the account is transferred. Monitoring recovery guide →
An unregistered installation means you can’t access the SEG tariff, warranty claims are harder to substantiate, and the system is technically non-compliant. If the installer was HIES or RECC registered, this is exactly the kind of failure those consumer protection schemes exist to address — file a complaint with the relevant scheme. If not, a legal route against the administrator may apply.
System Recovery starts from £249 and covers monitoring transfer, documentation rebuild, fault diagnosis, warranty support, and a written condition report. If physical repair work is needed after the diagnostic, we quote separately before proceeding — on-site repair visits from £249. We confirm all costs before starting any work. See full pricing →
Tell us what you’re dealing with — we’ll work out the recovery path
Let us know what you have: what brand the system is if you can see it, what documentation you’ve been given, whether the system appears to be generating, and what the monitoring situation is. We’ll come back with a clear recovery plan, usually same day.