Posted by: @fiona

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the insurance backed guarantee who we’ve been fighting with for a year won’t cover us as we were aware there were problems before the installers went into administration

Really, that's a huge get out clause and if it is the case as you say it's not worth the paper it's written on.  Does it actually say that in the contract of insurance?

@jamespa yes but all we got from the installer was the confirmation it had the warranty and it wasn’t until we tried to claim that the paperwork states this. I’d question all of these insurance backed warranties and wonder how many have actually paid out!

Interestingly they made us pay for the independent report and then said it wasn’t workmanship and it was only when we complained to the ombudsman that they pointed it out that as we’d been aware we were not covered! We complained escalated with the ombudsman but they found in favour of the insurer although they have to reimburse us for the independent report.

Ok so as I understand you:

• The installer has gone bust
• The ombudsman has found that your insurance doesn't cover you
• Nothing was paid on credit card

That's very sad indeed to hear but, if it is the case, then your only options are to make the best of what you have (which may well be enough to get you warm if do e well) or start again.

If you want to share lots of detail about your house and current system then I'm sure people here will make suggestions about what you could change to make the best of what you have.  If the report that said your house loss was 11.98 kW was done before about mid 2025, it's very possible that this is a massive overestimate and your pump capacity is in fact sufficient.  Even if it was done later than that it's still possible

If you do want to go down this route please do post more detail as outlined by @editor above.

Posted by: @fiona

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The ombudsman found that the issues could be attributed to workmanship but as we were aware that things weren’t right before our installers went into administration the warranty company…

@fiona, which ombudsman adjudicated this?

Posted by: @fiona

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I’d question all of these insurance backed warranties and wonder how many have actually paid out!

When I was recording my podcast episode series last year with installers and industry insiders, off the record, the conversation around insurance-backed guarantees came up occasionally and was pretty unanimous: everyone saw them as one enormous con. The running joke among the installers was, “Have you ever heard of an IBW actually being paid out?” It was always met with laughs because no one had.

In the renewable sector, loads of grant-funded installers have gone bust, leaving customers high and dry. For instance, cases where companies like Omni Heat liquidated, the IBWs didn’t cover claims because of fine-print gotchas, like unfinished payments or unregistered installations. Even MCS-accredited schemes require everything to be fully completed and paid up before the insurance kicks in, which isn’t always possible if the firm folds mid-job.

So I’m not surprised this avenue isn’t available to Fiona. 

@editor it was the Financial Services ombudsman. It’s a pity we are not able to find out how many times these insurers have paid out. Their website talks about peace of mind when in fact they were difficult to deal with and evasive as soon as we got in contact with them.

@jamespa I am not sure what you mean about whether the heat loss survey was done before or after mid 2025 but it was done in about March 2025. I don’t think the original installer ever do a proper one as our house was taken back to brick when they designed the system so not sure what they based it on. We were in the process of complaining to NAPIT and MCS for lack of handover docs when they went into administration and at that point both bodies offered no further support as the company was no longer’accredited’. As you say we need to make the best of this system I think as we wouldn’t get our money back for a long time if we switched back to gas as much as I feel like doing that!

it’s the eye watering electricity bills to be cold which is what stresses me out more than anything!

@jamespa I meant to say I attached the report from the independent company in my reply to editor above. I’ve removed their details

Posted by: @fiona

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As you say we need to make the best of this system I think as we wouldn’t get our money back for a long time if we switched back to gas as much as I feel like doing that!

it’s the eye watering electricity bills to be cold which is what stresses me out more than anything!

Understood.  You shouldn't be paying eye watering electricity bills to be cold.  You should be paying about the same as you would pay with gas and you should be warm other than when the temperature falls below about 4C for an extended period

To see if we can help can you provide any of the following information:

• Description of your house: Layout, construction, age, level of insulation (if you have floor plans then all the better) and floor area
• Any design information provided by your installer, or anyone subsequently however vague
• Type of emitters, radiators, UFH, fancoil? and how many were changed when the heat pump was fitted
• Some pictures of the heat pump, the hot water tank and any other tanks you know of as well as the area around them
• A summary of the problems you are experiencing, being as specific as possible
• How you currently operate it (timed, on thermostat/TRVs etc)
• How much energy you used annually for heating the house before the heat pump was fitted

If you dont have all of this tell us what you do have, it may be possible to make some suggestions.

Dont feel obliged to reply if you dont want to, its entirely at your option.

@jamespa I will look for the plans. We had the house completely renovated in 2022. It was on TV so I can DM you the programme if you want to get a feel for the house. It’s a converted barn and stables dating back probably to 1700/1800s. We added 50mm to the walls and insulation to any roof space we could. Had the floors dug out so we could insulate as much as possible too. The barn roof is not insulated but we have put in a door to at least keep that room separate. We have heatmeiser thermostats. No radiators as all as all removed. No heating in the two upstairs rooms as was told heat rises but both rooms are cold 🥶 in winter!

We were paying £180 per month for gas and electric before all the work and we are now paying circa £260 a month if we average it out over a full year. It’s hard to know if this is normal given electricity prices have risen but it’s definitely more than we were led to believe so possibly our lack of understanding. The house is open plan so not sure if that is one of the issues. We have two manifolds as it’s a really long house!

OK.  There is some useful information in that but really we need the answers to as many of the questions that I asked as possible to avoid speculating.  Also consumption needs to be in kWh not GBP because prices fluctuate.  If you want to try to answer the questions then please do, but as I say there is no pressure to do so.

Your heatmiser thermostats are almost certainly a major part of the problem, both in terms of cost and comfort.  You could do worse than turning them all to maximum so that they are effectively disabled, and then adjusting the weather compensation curve down until the house is at the right temperature, if necessary adjusting the flow valves on the loops to balance the temperatures in different rooms.  Whilst you do this (and afterwards) the heat pump should be on 24*7.     If there is a mixer on the manifolds this also needs to be disabled by turning the target temperature to maximum.

If you haven't already done this you are missing the most important part of getting an ashp based system to work well at both maximum comfort and minimum cost, and it's very likely you would see a significant improvement by adjusting the way the system is operated.

Thanks you. I’m not sure I know how to do some of the things you’ve suggested but will give it a try.