In April 2026, we published a piece written by Ian and Sarah Ward, a couple in their sixties from South Manchester who had spent years fighting the consequences of a catastrophically poor heat pump installation. Their Vaillant Arotherm system had been installed with ten documented non-conformities, their insurance claim had been rejected, the installer had ceased trading and every official avenue had led to another dead end. You can read the original article here: http://renewableheatinghub.co.uk/the-reality-behind-a-failed-heat-pump-installation
Today we have a different kind of story to tell. The Wards won!
Following a sustained campaign of evidence gathering, formal complaints, Financial Ombudsman escalation and the publication of their case on this website, IWA Insurance issued a final response on 4 June 2026 acknowledging that eight of the ten non-conformities identified in the independent survey carried out by Liam Knowles of The Heating People (one of Renewable Heating Hub’s network installers) should be covered under the warranty insurance policy.
The remediation work now agreed includes replacing the cylinder with a correctly specified high-gain model, upgrading and insulating the pipework, replacing the discharge pipework to make it compliant with Building Regulations, flushing the system, replacing the external insulation, relocating the isolation switch and addressing the buffer tank.
This is not a small outcome. The total value of the remediation work runs to several thousand pounds. More importantly it establishes, in writing, that the installation was defective, that the insurance was supposed to cover it and that the insurer’s earlier attempts to reject the claim did not hold up to sustained scrutiny.
It would, however, be dishonest to describe this as straightforward. It wasn’t. It took independent survey reports, formal complaint letters, Financial Ombudsman referrals, MP engagement and the kind of sustained, meticulous documentation that most people simply do not have the time, energy or confidence to maintain. The Wards are the first to acknowledge that.
Sarah puts it plainly: “I believe that one of the industry’s tactics is to delay, obfuscate and basically wear people out until they just give up. Ian and I are both still working and it’s been really difficult to find the headspace and time to document everything and fight this battle.”
Sarah and Ian were always clear that their fight was not only about their own installation. “For us, it wasn’t just a case of getting our own faulty installation put right, but also raising awareness in government that taxpayers’ money was being wasted, holding regulatory bodies to account and taking on a morally flawed industry.”
And they’re right. Their system was installed under the Boiler Upgrade Scheme, funded by public money. It was certified by an MCS-accredited installer. The certificate it generated was the basis on which a government grant was disbursed. The insurance policy attached to that certificate was supposed to provide consumer protection when things went wrong. Every layer of the framework failed. And the Wards had to rebuild each layer themselves, from scratch, with no professional support, while working full time.
This is the hidden cost of poor installation that no grant statistic captures. Not just the financial loss, though that is real and substantial. But the months of correspondence, the engineers’ reports, the ombudsman submissions, the MP meetings, the sleepless nights and the corrosive uncertainty of not knowing whether you will ever get a resolution. The Wards got one. Too many homeowners in identical situations give up before they do.
The Wards found Renewable Heating Hub at a point when every official avenue had been exhausted. Sarah describes what that meant to them: “We didn’t know where to turn until Liam pointed us towards Mars and Renewable Heating Hub. For the first time we felt we had found someone willing to listen and help amplify our plight. It became rapidly clear that our experience was not unique.”
That is exactly what Renewable Heating Hub was created to do. Not to replace the official frameworks, inadequate as they currently are, but to make sure that homeowners with legitimate grievances know that they are not alone, that their experience is documented rather than dismissed and that the people with the knowledge and the platform to help are accessible to them.
Publishing the Wards’ original story was a deliberate editorial decision, and it led to also being the focus of a recent Financial Times article. Cases like theirs need to be on the public record. They need to be findable by the next homeowner who types their symptoms into a search engine at midnight and wonders whether anyone else has been through the same thing.
The answer is yes!
Do not give up because the process is exhausting. That exhaustion is not an accident. Document everything in writing, from the first contact onwards. Commission an independent survey report as early as possible. Submit formally to your insurer and allow the process to run before escalating to the Financial Ombudsman. If your insurer rejects your claim, escalate. If the ombudsman’s initial decision does not go in your favour, do not assume that is the end.
And come here. The Renewable Heating Hub community has directly helped hundreds of homeowners navigate these kinds of situations. The knowledge, the moral support and the editorial platform are all available to you.
The Wards fought for years to be heard. They were. And the industry that failed them is now paying to put it right.
If you have been through a similar experience or are currently dealing with a failed installation, share your story in the comments, on our forums or contact us directly at editor@renewableheatinghub.co.uk
Just to reiterate that this victory would not have been possible without the courage, integrity and sheer determination of Mars and the Renewable Heating Hub. Thank you to everyone that offered advice and support. It really meant a lot when the going got tough.