Yes thanks, suing him is an option, but the consumer protection laws are so poor in the UK; It means it would cost more to sue than the trader owes. Rogue traders know this, so that's how they get away with screwing customers over small jobs that go wrong. In theory, you could ask the court to order the trader to pay your costs but this is not guaranteed. It would depend on which side of bed the Judge got up that morning. Also small claims take a shockingly long time to settle.

The company did finally respond and the subby fixed the hot water system, which turned out to be a fault with my immersion heater that was only six months old. The installer of the immersion claims he has lost his license, so I am screwed again. Consumer protecting in the UK is a joke. The website that supported this rogue trader is investigating. We still expect the Solar Panel company to deliberately go bust to invalidate warranties,, unless the FIT grant is restarted in some form.

I am starting this thread again because the first one has disappeared. The site allows you to submit a topic without first registering, then ties itself in knots trying to get you to resubmit to a user that it thinks exists and does not exist at the same time. The issue is with an Solar Panel company that appears to be imploding only days after the FIT government grant ceased to be available. The company is not responding to emails or phone calls, and half the staff appear to have walked out. I have agreed to pay for the parts of the system that do work but not for parts that don't, as is my right according to Which magazine. The hot water sub-system is not working. As I can't get the main contractor to respond, I am hoping the sub-contractor (that installed both systems) will return to repair the fault or replace the faulty box independently. If the main contractor goes Bust before I need to pay will I have to pay the liquidator? They may be deliberately going bankrupt - an old building trade trick - to get out of responsibilities or warranties.