1. Purpose
1.1 The Green Home Wales Scheme (the “Scheme”) is a scheme under which DBW Investments (11) Limited (“DBW”) supports the installation, in domestic properties located in Wales, of certain types of energy efficiency improvement measures and low carbon heating systems (these being the ‘Eligible Measures’ which are described in Annex B of these terms and conditions).
1.2 Loans under the Scheme will be offered to eligible property owners as an unsecured loan (the “Fixed Sum Loan”), which must be used by the recipient(s) to pay for the installation of the Eligible Measures at the Property.
1.3 You acknowledge that you are borrowing money for the purpose of installing Eligible Measures at your Property and undertake to make all of the required payments to us by direct debit, in full and on time, without reducing the payments for any reason whatsoever, including, without limitation, set off or deduction.
2. Undertakings
2.1 You must not be a business or apply on behalf of a business and your Property must not be listed as a business asset.
2.2 You must:-
(a) own or jointly own the Property as a natural person and it must be your only private residence;
(b) have instructed a Retrofit Coordinator who will provide end-to-end support throughout the selection and installation of the Eligible Measures at the Property. The Retrofit Coordinator must be registered with the UK Government’s “TrustMark” scheme;
(c) provide all documentation which is required by the Scheme from time to time;
(d) ensure the installer who you contract with to supply and install the Eligible Measures at your Property is registered with Trustmark and must remain registered until the installation work has been completed;
(e) ensure that the works and goods provided for the installation of the Eligible Measures are properly guaranteed and if required, take out and maintain insurance for your Eligible Measures with a reputable insurer, against appropriate risks to the extent required;
(f) be the person who will own the Property at the time we pay the Total Loan Amount to you and upon completed installation of the Eligible Measures, will be the person who owns those such Eligible Measures;
(g) Obtain any planning or other consents or licence required and maintain and comply with all necessary licences, consents and laws;
(h) if requested, provide evidence that the Total Loan Amount was used for the purpose detailed in this agreement;
(i) acknowledge the support given by us in all forms of publicity related to the Fixed Sum Loan. Publicity for these purposes includes announcements, press releases, media interviews and official launches, and contact us to discuss this publicity requirement;
(j) co-operate with us or the Welsh Government for publicity and/or case study purposes; and
(k) provide us with such information concerning the installed Eligible Measures as we may require from time to time.
2.3 We are not required to monitor your use of the Fixed Sum Loan.
3. Representations And Warranties
In deciding to make the Total Loan Amount to you, DBW has relied on certain things being true, including the things that you confirm in this Paragraph 3. You confirm that and for so long as the loan is outstanding:
(a) your Property is your main residence and it will not be used as a holiday home or second home;
(b) all factual information supplied by you to us in connection with the Scheme was true as at its date and did not leave out anything material;
(c) no change has occurred since you provided information to us which renders that information untrue or misleading and all statements of belief and opinion given by you to us were made in good faith after careful enquiry and remain valid; and
(d) no event contained in paragraph 4 below has occurred which has not been corrected or that we have consented to.
4. Default
4.1 If an event described in this paragraph occurs (known as an “Event of Default”) and has not been waived by us in writing, we shall be entitled after the expiry of proper notice in writing to you to require repayment (immediately or otherwise as we might request) of the Fixed Sum Loan together with other amounts payable under this agreement.
4.2 The following are Events of Default:-
(a) you fail to pay when due any sum payable by you under this agreement;
(b) you fail to comply with any other provision this agreement;
(c) any confirmation in paragraph 3 above proves to have been untrue or inaccurate in any material respect;
(d) you become insolvent or stop or suspend payment of your debts or you are (or are deemed to be) unable to pay your debts as they fall due or propose
or enter into any agreement or composition for the benefit of your creditors generally;
(f) you have a bankruptcy order made against you;
(g) you die or become incapable of managing and administering your property and affairs by reason of lack of capacity (within the meaning of the Mental Capacity Act 2005);
(h) any part of this agreement, or any related document is or becomes (or is alleged to be) unlawful or unenforceable in any respect; or
(i) any other circumstance or event occurs which in our reasonable opinion, may have a material adverse effect on you or your ability to perform your obligations under this agreement, and/or any related document.
5. Failure to make your Monthly Repayments
5.1 If you fail to make your Monthly Repayments on time, it is an Event of Default pursuant to paragraph 4 above and interest will be become due on any payment missed at the rate of 2.5% above Bank of England Base Rate on a daily basis from the date the payment is missed. If that happens, we may recalculate your payments, extend the Term of your Loan Agreement and/or continue to collect the Monthly Repayments until your loan is repaid in full. It also means one of the following may apply:
(a) we may report your breach to credit reference agencies;
(b) you may find it difficult to obtain credit in the future;
(c) we may end this agreement and require you to repay the full outstanding balance, including any interest that has accrued. We shall give you advance notice before we do this and a reasonable opportunity to bring your account up to date; and/or
(d) we may bring legal proceedings against you which could result in the debt being secured against any property you own and/or a petition for your bankruptcy.
6. Assignment and Authority to Disclose Information
6.1 You may not assign or transfer any of your rights or obligations under this agreement, or any related document.
6.2 You confirm that we may assign all or any part of our rights under this agreement, or any related document and we may disclose on a confidential basis to any actual or potential assignee or transferee of any such rights, any information about you we consider appropriate.
6.3 You confirm that we can, whilst the Total Loan Amount is outstanding, approach any person to obtain any information concerning your Property and the installed assets from time to time. You will authorise any such person to disclose to us any information we require.
6.4 You confirm that we can disclose to the Welsh Government and any subsidiaries of that organisation any information obtained by us as a result of providing the Fixed Sum Loan.
7. General
7.1 If we choose not to exercise any right against you immediately, we can still do so later, unless we have specifically agreed in writing that we will not do so.
7.2 If any part of this agreement is not valid or enforceable then that will not affect any other part.
7.3 We may send any notice under this agreement to you at your address stated on page 1 of this agreement or the address last known to us. You must tell us as soon as possible if you change your address. All notices or other communications to us under this agreement are to be given to us by the means stated in the Early Settlement section on page 2 of this agreement or to such other address as we such notify to you from time to time.
7.4 If we decide to temporarily relax the conditions of this agreement,
we won’t be prevented from enforcing our rights against you in
full at any time.
7.5 This agreement shall be governed by and construed according to the laws of England and Wales.
8. Interpretation
8.1 Any reference in this agreement to:
(a) you is to the Borrower(s) and where there is more than one borrower, we may release any one or more of you from your obligations under this agreement or make any other arrangement with you. Such release or other arrangements will not affect the obligations of the remaining borrowers. Each of you will be separately responsible for performing both your own obligations and those of your co-signatories under this agreement;
(b) we and us is to DBW Investments (11) Limited;
(c) related documents is any document entered into by any person under or in accordance with the provisions of the this agreement; and
(d) any legislation will include all amendments, substitutions and re-enactments in force from time to time.
8.2 Any reference to this agreement or any other document referred to in it will be construed as references to those documents in force from time to time and as amended, supplemented, restated, substituted or novated from time to time.
Installation Grant Terms & Conditions
Definitions
Words and expressions used in these Terms and Conditions have the meanings given to them in Annex A of these Terms and Conditions.
Any references in these Terms and Conditions to ‘you’ or ‘your’ means the property owner(s) (and customer(s) of a particular installer) who wish(es) to benefit from a grant paid under the Scheme.
Introduction
1. The Green Homes Wales Scheme is a loan scheme supplemented by grant funding for certain Eligible Measures under which support is provided for the installation, in domestic properties located in Wales, of certain types of energy efficiency improvement measures and low carbon heating systems (these being the ‘Eligible Measures’ which are described in Annex B of these Terms and Conditions).
2. The Installation Grant will be offered to eligible property owners in order to pay towards the cost of the installation of the Eligible Measures at the Property as defined in the IG Letter. When an IG Letter is successfully drawn down in accordance with the requirements of these Terms and Conditions, the property owner will receive the relevant Grant Amount by way of a payment being made to them, following the successful installation of the Eligible Measure covered by that IG Letter.
3. Requests for payments under the IG letter must be submitted with all required supporting information and declarations prior to the expiry of the Grant Validity Period as described in Conditions 27 and 28 below.
4. These Terms and Conditions apply to recipients of an IG Letter.
5. The Scheme is funded by the Welsh Ministers (“WM”) and administered on behalf of WM by DBW. This means that, as explained in further detail below, eligible property owners must apply to DBW for an IG Letter with the assistance of a Retrofit Coordinator.
Changes to the Scheme and these Terms and Conditions
6. The award of Installation Grant Offer Letter is discretionary. There is no guarantee that any particular amounts of Installation Grant will be available under the Scheme for any particular period of time. Any of the following things could happen at any time:-
a. the Scheme may be suspended or closed, meaning that no further IG Letters are issued under it, either temporarily or permanently, but without affecting your right to claim under any IG Letter that has been issued prior to such suspension or closure and has not separately been cancelled in accordance with these Terms and Conditions. This may also mean that any application you have already made to DBW at that point is then put on hold or rejected;
b. for applications for new IG Letters the grant amounts available for particular Eligible Measures may be changed at any time prior to issue of the IG Letter;
c. for applications for new IG Letters, the eligibility requirements that apply under the Scheme may be changed at any time prior to issue of the IG Letter. This could include changes as to the types of measures which constitute Eligible Measures, eligibility requirements which apply to property owners wishing to apply for an IG Letter and eligibility requirements which apply to installers participating in the Scheme;
d. limits may be imposed on the number of IG Letters that can be applied for in respect of Eligible Measures to be installed by any one particular installer. If any limit of this kind is reached for any installer you were intending to use, this may mean that your application for an IG Letter is rejected.
7. In light of the matters described in Condition 6 above, you should make sure that you do not commit to proceed with the installation of any Eligible Measure until you have successfully been issued with an IG Letter covering that Eligible Measure and have checked that the amount of Installation Grant offered under that IG Letter is in line with your expectations.
8. By signing an IG Letter, you will be confirming that you agree to these Terms and Conditions applying to the arrangements between you, WM and DBW relating to the IG Letter you are applying for and your participation in the Scheme. Prior to an IG Letter being issued, DBW may make changes to the version of the Terms and Conditions you originally agreed to at the point of making your application. Where it does so DBW will tell you about these changes.
9. If at the point the changes are made, you have not yet been issued with the IG Letter you applied for, DBW will give you the choice of continuing with your application on the basis of the changed Terms and Conditions, or cancelling it. The Terms and Conditions shall be varied or your application cancelled as appropriate in accordance with the choice made by you.
Eligibility requirements
10. An IG Letter will only be valid, and can only be used to claim a Installation Grant, where all of the following eligibility requirements are met:-
a. you must instruct the Retrofit Coordinator named in your IG Letter, who will provide end-to-end support throughout the Scheme and who must be registered under the UK Government’s TrustMark Scheme (“TrustMark”);
b. you must own and occupy the Property and the Property must be situated in Wales at the time the IG Letter is issued to you;
c. your application form must include the Project Information Form which must be aligned with the recommendations of the Retrofit Coordinator as identified in the Recommendations Reports. These reports will identify the energy efficiency improvement measure(s) and/or low carbon heating system that will be suitable to be installed at your Property (these being some of, or all, the “Eligible Measures” as described in Annex B of these Terms and Conditions;
d. you must have successfully obtained an unsecured fixed sum loan from the Green Homes Wales Scheme which is to be used for the purpose of paying an installer(s) to install Eligible Measures at your Property;
e. you and the Property at which the Eligible Measures covered by the IG Letter are to be installed must meet the eligibility requirements described in Annex C of these Terms and Conditions. Unless Annex C says otherwise, these eligibility requirements must be met at the time the IG Letter is issued to you;
f. the installer(s) who you contract with to supply and install the Eligible Measures covered by the IG Letter must be Registered and must remain Registered until the installation work has been completed;
g. work on the installation of the Eligible Measure(s) covered by the IG Letter must not start until after the IG Letter has been issued;
h. the Eligible Measure(s) installed at your Property must be a completely new measure or system, not a second-hand one. Installation Grants under the Scheme cannot be used to support the repair or replacement of parts of an existing measure or system; and
i. you and your installer(s) must comply with the restrictions described in Condition 11 regarding receiving other forms of financial support in respect of the cost of supplying and installing the Eligible Measures.
11. Grant support under the Scheme will not be payable for any Eligible Measure for which financial support has been received, or will be received, under any public grant scheme (including both central government and local authority schemes) other than a fixed sum loan agreement as described in Condition 10 (d). You must not apply for an IG Letter where any such financial support has been or will be received in respect of the Eligible Measure by you or any other person. You must also not apply for or receive any financial support of this kind yourself in relation to any Eligible Measure covered by an IG Letter.
12. Where an IG Letter is issued, the upper limit on the amount of Installation Grant that will be offered under it will be the lesser of the maximum eligible grant amount as indicated in the Eligible Measures Tables (calculated against Eligible Costs as evidenced by an appropriate quotation(s) provided by the installer(s)), or an amount equal to the amount of loan funding offered by the Green Homes Wales Scheme to support the installation of the Eligible Measure(s).
Application for and issue of a IG Letter
13. To apply for an IG Letter for an Eligible Measure, you must follow the Scheme’s process for this. By making an application of this kind, you will be confirming that:-
a. you and the Property at which the Eligible Measure is to be installed meet the eligibility requirements described in Annex C of these Terms and Conditions;
b. you have successfully obtained an unsecured fixed sum loan from the Green Homes Wales Scheme which is to be used for the purpose of installing Eligible Measures at your Property;
c. work on the installation of the Eligible Measure has not already started;
d. in relation to the Eligible Measure, you have not received any of the financial support referred to in Condition 11 above; and
e. you have obtained all necessary consents and permissions from any other person with any relevant interest in the Property and from any relevant authorities.
14. As part of your application for a IG Letter, you (or through your appointed Retrofit Coordinator) will need to provide DBW with a copy of the quotation provided by the installer(s) you intend to use to supply and install the Eligible Measure at your Property. More specific requirements that apply in this respect are as follows:-
a. the installer(s) you intend to use must be Registered;
b. the installer(s) you intend to use must not be you or a member of your household or your immediate family; and
c. the quotation must be in the form required by the Scheme.
15. Where you wish to install more than one Eligible Measure at your Property with the benefit of a Installation Grant under the Scheme:-
a. your application can cover each of the different Eligible Measures and your IG Letter will include each award for each Eligible Measure;
b. you will not need to use the same installer for each of the Eligible Measures; and
c. if you do use the same installer, you will not need to enter into different contracts for each of the Eligible Measures, but the installer will need to provide separate quotations for each Eligible Measure.
16. You must ensure that all information you provide to DBW in connection with your application for an IG Letter, and in response to any reasonable enquiries or other requests for information which DBW may ask you to respond to from time to time, is true, accurate and complete at the time it is provided.
17. On receiving an application from you for an IG Letter, DBW will carry out certain checks and, having sought any necessary clarifications from you, confirm whether your application is eligible. If your application is eligible, DBW will issue you with an IG Letter.
18.You must apply for, and have received, an IG Letter before any work starts on installing the Eligible Measure covered by the IG Letter.
19. At any time after you have made your application for an IG Letter, DBW or WM may audit the information you have provided, or request further information from you, where DBW or WM (as applicable) reasonably considers this to be necessary in order to check that relevant requirements under the Scheme are being complied with. You must cooperate with any audit of this kind, and provide any further information requested, within any timeframe reasonably specified by DBW or WM (as applicable).
20. An IG Letter will:
a. only be valid for the particular period described in the IG Letter. This means that, except where an extension is given in the exceptional circumstances described in Condition 34 below, the IG Letter will need to have been “redeemed” before its validity period ends;
b. be for your use and benefit only, meaning you cannot transfer it in any way to any other person;
c. only be valid in relation to the particular Eligible Measure(s) installed at the particular Property described in it (as per information taken from your application for the IG Letter);
d. only be valid where the installer(s) you contract with to supply and install the Eligible Measure(s) is the particular installer(s) described in the Project Information Summary (as per information taken from your application for the Installation Grant). See Condition 32 below for the terms that will apply if you wish to change the installer; and
e. cease to be valid on cancellation by WM or once payment has been made to you following redemption of the IG Letter.
21. The issuing of an IG Letter does not mean that information provided as part of your application has been approved or endorsed in any way by DBW. As set out in Conditions 13 and 16 above, it is your responsibility to ensure that this information is accurate and complete and that you are able to meet relevant eligibility requirements. Even if you have been issued with an IG Letter, there is no guarantee that your IG Letter “redemption” (meaning the claiming of an Installation Grant) will be successful. Payment of the Installation Grant will be conditional on the requirements at Conditions 22 to 25 below being satisfied.
Installation of Eligible Measures
22. A key requirement of the Scheme is that the installer(s) you use and contract with to supply and install the Eligible Measure covered by the IG Letter is an installer who is Registered. Amongst other matters, this will mean that the installer is required to comply with the relevant PAS certification, as well as other relevant certification standards when carrying out installation work for you.
23. If you have any complaints about the work being carried out by an installer, you should also be able to contact the relevant organisation of which the installer is a member for assistance in resolving these complaints.
24. You are responsible for paying the installation costs, including any deposit or ongoing costs irrespective of the any grant amounts that may be available to you under this IG Letter.
25. After the installation of the Eligible Measure(s) covered by the IG Letter has been completed satisfactorily, no later than 7 (seven) days before the validity period of the IG Letter ends, you must obtain the following from your installer:
a. an invoice addressed to you in respect of the Eligible Costs associated with the supply and installation of the Eligible Measure(s);
b. for certain types of energy efficiency improvement measures, an appropriate claim of conformity and any relevant handover pack, as required in accordance with relevant “PAS” certification standards;
c. where the Eligible Measure is a low carbon heating system, the relevant “MCS” (Microgeneration Certification Scheme) certificate, together with any relevant manufacturer’s instructions for operating and maintaining that system;
d. where the Eligible Measure is a biomass fuelled low carbon heating system, information about the “Biomass Suppliers List”;
e. a copy of the guarantee which the installer is required to provide under any applicable rules; and
f. any other information as may be reasonably requested by DBW from time to time.
Grant Offer Letter redemption
26. In these Terms and Conditions, “redeeming” an IG Letter means taking certain steps, as described in Conditions 27 and 28 below, to claim the Installation Grant covered by the IG Letter before the Grant Validity Period of the IG Letter ends.
27. A valid IG Letter will become redeemable once the installation of the Eligible Measure(s) covered by that Letter has been completed satisfactorily and the installer has fully complied with its obligations in relation to that Eligible Measure prior to the expiry of the Grant Validity Period of the IG Letter.
28. The steps you and/or your Retrofit Coordinator on your behalf will need to take, if you wish to redeem your IG Letter (once it has become redeemable), is to do the following, in accordance with DBW’s process for redeeming your IG Letter and before the date of expiry of the Grant Validity Period of the IG Letter:-
a. confirm to DBW that the installation of the relevant Eligible Measure(s) has been completed satisfactorily by the installer(s) specified in the Project Information Summary;
b. confirm to DBW that the necessary lodgements have been submitted to TrustMark;
c. confirm to DBW that you have received from your installer(s) all of the documents referred to in Condition 25 above in relation to the relevant Eligible Measure;
d. confirm to DBW, and provide any evidence reasonably requested by DBW, that any other applicable eligibility requirements under the Scheme (as referred to in these Terms and Conditions) have been met; and
e. provide to DBW a dated copy or image of the relevant invoice(s) issued by the installer(s).
29. Where you have completed the process of redeeming the IG Letter and:-
a. your installer remains Registered in respect of the relevant type of Eligible Measure; and
b. DBW is reasonably satisfied that all other necessary requirements arising under these Terms and Conditions have been met as regards the installation of the Eligible Measure covered by the IG Letter; and
c. DBW is in receipt of funds from WM in order to make the payment,
DBW will pay the relevant amount of Installation Grant to you.
Post-installation obligations
30. Following installation of the Eligible Measures, you must ensure that, unless there is a good reason for doing so:-
a. any Eligible Measure is not removed from the place it was installed;
b. any Eligible Measure is not modified in a way that might adversely affect the way it was intended to perform; and
c. you use the Eligible Measures strictly in accordance with the instructions provided by the Eligible Measure’s installer and/or manufacturer.
Changes to your circumstances
31. You must ensure that information you provide to DBW remains accurate and up to date. If there is any change to any information you have previously provided to DBW, you must tell DBW about this change within 7 (seven) days of becoming aware of it. As explained in Condition 35 below, changes to any information you have previously provided may result in the Letter being cancelled.
32. If, before installation works starts in respect of a particular Eligible Measure covered by an IG Letter, you wish to change the installer or change the Eligible Measure, you must contact DBW and tell it about the proposed change. DBW will then assess, by re-validating relevant parts of the original application process for the IG Letter. There is no guarantee that approval will be granted, in particular, if the change would result in an additional amount of Installation Grant being payable under the IG Letter. However, if approval is granted, DBW will either cancel the original IG Letter and issue you a new IG Letter on the basis of your application following the change, or issue you a notice in writing confirming the change of installer and/or the Eligible Measure. Any notice will remain subject to these Terms and Conditions.
33. If after being issued with an IG Letter, but before you start the process of “redeeming” it, the Eligible Costs of supplying and installing a particular Eligible Measure increases and you wish to request an increase in the amount of Installation Grant payable under the Letter to cover to a proportion of this additional Eligible Costs, you must contact DBW to make this request. DBW will then assess the proposed change, taking into account matters such as the justification for the increase in Eligible Costs, the availability of funds under the Scheme at that point and limits on the amounts of Installation Grant that are payable. There is no guarantee that approval of the change will be granted, but if it is, DBW will either cancel the original IG Letter and issue you a new IG Letter on the basis of your application following the change, or issue you a notice in writing confirming the new amount of Installation Grant. Any notice will remain subject to these Terms and Conditions.
34. If due to circumstances beyond your reasonable control you consider that you will not be able redeem the IG Letter before the end of the Grant Validity Period (including where circumstances beyond your reasonable control have caused a delay in the installation of one or more Eligible Measure(s) being completed), you may contact DBW and request an extension to the Grant Validity Period detailed in the IG Letter. There is no guarantee that the requested extension will be agreed, but if it is, DBW will issue you confirmation of the extended Grant Validity Period.
Cancellation of Installation Grant Offer Letters & Recovery of Installation Grant
35. WM may cancel an IG Letter and/or instruct DBW to withhold (in whole or in part) payment of the Installation Grant covered by an IG Letter where there are reasonable grounds for believing that any of the following circumstances apply:-
a. the Grant Validity Period for the IG Letter has expired (without the IG Letter being redeemed in accordance with these Terms and Conditions before the end of this period);
b. any relevant eligibility requirements referred to in these Terms and Conditions were not met at the time that they needed to be met under these Terms and Conditions (including Annex C);
c. you have not complied with any of these Terms and Conditions;
d. your installer has ceased to be Registered (as defined in Annex A below) for the purposes of the Scheme and the relevant type of Eligible Measure (or was never so Registered);
e. you, your Retrofit Coordinator and/or your installer(s) or any of their associated officers, employees, agents or subcontractors made any false statement or committed any fraud in connection with the IG Letter;
f. there has been any inappropriate collusion between you, your Retrofit Coordinator and/or your installer(s) or any of their officers, employees, agents or subcontractors; or
g. it is necessary for the IG Letter to be cancelled and/or the Installation Grant to be withheld (in whole or in part) to comply with any relevant laws.
36. If WM intends to cancel an IG Letter and/or withhold payment of any Installation Grant, DBW will tell you about this intention. You will then be given the opportunity to make representations to DBW before WM makes its final decision.
37. If having been issued with an IG Letter, you decide that you will not be proceeding with the installation of the Eligible Measure(s) covered by it, you must contact DBW as soon as reasonably practicable and inform it of your decision. WM will then have the right to cancel the IG Letter, so that grant funds covered by the IG Letter can be made available to other applicants.
38. Where any payment of Installation Grant is made, following the redemption of the IG Letter, and there are reasonable grounds for WM subsequently deciding that:-
a. you made any false statement or committed, or were knowingly party to, any fraud relating to that payment;
b. there was any inappropriate collusion between you, your Retrofit Coordinator and/or your installer(s) or any of their officers, employees, agents or subcontractors;
c. you and/or your Property did not meet, at the time that they needed to be met, any of the relevant eligibility requirements which apply to you and/or your Property; and/or
d. you have not complied with any of these Terms and Conditions and that failure is serious enough to justify recovery of the Installation Grant from you,
WM will have the right (without affecting any other right it may have) to contact you via DBW in order to tell you about the amount of the relevant Installation Grant payment which WM considers should not be paid to the installer and to recover that amount from you. In these circumstances, you must pay DBW the amount in question within 14 days of being told about that amount and the requirement to pay it. DBW will hold such amount on trust for the WM. In the event of late payment, interest will be payable on the amount due at the rate of 2.5% above the Bank of England base rate from the end of this 14-day period until the date on which you do make repayment in full.
Complaints
39. If you are unhappy about any of the decisions made under these Terms and Conditions, including decisions relating to the amendment or cancellation of an IG Letter, please contact DBW and request a copy of the complaints procedure.
Record keeping
40. You must keep copies of the documents referred to in Condition 25 above until at least 6 (six) years have passed since the date on which the IG Letter was redeemed. If asked to do so at any time, you must allow authorised representatives of DBW and/or WM to inspect and take copies of these documents.
Undertakings
41. If asked to do so at any time, you must:
a. allow authorised representatives of DBW and/or WM to have access to your Property to inspect the Eligible Measure(s) installed at the Property and verify that relevant requirements referred to in these Terms and Conditions have been complied with;
b. co-operate with DBW and/or WM for publicity and/or case study purposes; and
c. provide DBW and/or WM with such information concerning the installed Eligible Measures as they may require from time to time.
Installer responsibility
42. You are responsible for selecting an appropriate suitably qualified competent and reputable installer to install the Eligible Measure(s). This includes any subcontractor that the installer wishes to use. The award of an IG Letter in respect of a quotation issued by an installer does not constitute an assurance by DBW or WM as to the suitability or competence of the installer (or subcontractor) to install any Eligible Measure(s) or carry out any other works at your Property.
43. If you have any complaints about any Eligible Measure(s) and/or about anything done (or not done) by your installer or any of its officers, employees, agents or subcontractors, you should raise these with your installer or otherwise (as explained in Condition 23 above) contact the relevant organisation with whom your installer is registered.
Limitation of liability
44. The award of IG Letters under the Scheme is discretionary and (without affecting your right to complain) you shall not be entitled to compensation from either DBW or WM for any costs or losses you incur due to any rejection of your application for an IG Letter or any delay in processing it.
45. Neither DBW nor WM will be liable for any costs or losses you incur due to:
a. any delay by DBW in issuing an IG Letter;
b. any delay or defects in the conduct of the Eligible Measures at your Property by the installer or its sub-contractors;
c. any negligence or anything else done (or not done) by your installer(s) or any of their subcontractors;
d. the inability or failure of the installer or sub-contractor to pay you compensation where appropriate; and/or
e. any failure or delay by DBW in connection with the administration of the Scheme.
In relation to b above, this requires the installer to complete the installation of each Eligible Measure, in sufficient time prior to the expiry date of the IG Letter to enable the IG Letter to be redeemed by the end of the Grant Validity Period to a professional standard by suitably qualified personnel and in accordance with the relevant certification standards,
and, if they fail to do so, neither DBW nor the WM shall be liable to you for any costs or losses you incur as a result.
46. Neither DBW nor WM shall be liable to you for any business losses or loss of rent howsoever caused.
47. Nothing in these Terms and Conditions will have the effect of excluding or limiting the liability of DBW or WM for death or personal injury caused by (respectively) the negligence of DBW or WM or (respectively) any fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation by DBW or WM, or any other matter which, by law, may not be excluded or limited.
Miscellaneous
48. Data Protection - DBW will collect, process and retain personal data provided by you in accordance with DBW’s Privacy Policy, which can be found here.If you are concerned that DBW is storing information about you that is incorrect, please contact DBW using the contact details provided in DBW’s Privacy Policy, and it will correct your details as soon as possible. Security measures have been put in place to protect your personal data against access by unauthorised persons, and safeguards have been put in place to protect transfers of your personal data to authorised third parties for purposes of delivering the Scheme.
Third party rights
49. Except as explained in Condition 50 below, a person who is not a party to these Terms and Conditions will not have any rights under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 to enforce any of provision in them.
50. WM will have the right to enforce any provision in these Terms and Conditions which expressly or by implication confers a benefit on WM.
51. Transfer of rights and obligations – you will not have any right to transfer to anyone else any of your rights or obligations under these Terms and Conditions and/or any IG Letter. DBW will have the right to transfer all of its rights and obligations under these Terms and Conditions and/or any IG Letter to WM or to any contractor appointed by WM or DBW to administer the Scheme and, if requested to do so at any time, you must enter into any documents DBW or WM reasonably requests that you enter into in order to give full effect to a transfer of this kind.
52. Waiver - if you do not comply with any of these Terms and Conditions and DBW does not respond or take any action immediately on becoming aware of the issue, this does not mean that it cannot take action in the future.
53. Validity - if a court or other authority determines that any part of these Terms and Conditions is not valid, the rest of these Terms and Conditions will not be affected.
54. Governing law and jurisdiction – these Terms and Conditions will be governed by and are to be construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales and they and any dispute arising under or in connection with them will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.
55. Interpretation - in these Terms and Conditions, and unless the context otherwise requires, the words “include”, “including” or “in particular” should be read as if they were followed by the words “but not limited to”, so that any things which are referred to after any of these words are treated as illustrative examples rather than an exhaustive list.
Annex A - Definitions
‘DBW’ means Development Bank of Wales 11 Limited appointed by WM to administer the Scheme.
‘Eligible Costs’ means (i) the cost of the Eligible Measure; (ii) the cost of installation work for the Eligible Measure; and (iii) the cost of any associated work being carried out by an installer that is required to ensure that the installation is compliant with the relevant certification standards.
‘Eligible Measure’ means an energy efficiency improvement measure or low carbon heating system of the kind, and which meets the requirements, specified in Annex B of these Terms and Conditions. As applied to you, and unless the context otherwise requires, any reference in these Terms and Conditions to an Eligible Measure should be read as meaning the particular Eligible Measure covered by the IG Letter that you have applied for or (as the context requires) been issued with.
‘Eligible Measures Tables’ means the tables detailing the Eligible Measures and their corresponding loan and grant eligibility, as set out on pages 7 and 8 of the Scheme’s guidance document.
‘Green Homes Wales Scheme’ means the “Green Homes Wales” scheme established by WM to support the installation of Eligible Measures in residential properties in Wales.
‘Installation Grant’ means a grant payment under the Scheme. As applied to you, and unless the context otherwise requires, any reference in these Terms and Conditions to a Installation Grant should be read as meaning the particular Installation Grant offered to you by WM by way of the issue of an IG Letter to you.
‘Installation Grant Offer Letter’ means the document issued to an eligible property owner by DBW by way of the offer of a particular amount of Installation Grant for a particular Eligible Measure to be installed at the owner’s Property. As applied to you, and unless the context otherwise requires, any reference to an IG Letter should be read as meaning the particular IG Letter that you have applied for or (as the context requires) been issued with.
‘PAS’ refers to the relevant accreditation (certification) which demonstrates that an installer meets the required standard to carry out a retrofit installation that ensures the building will become more energy efficient.
‘Project Information Form’ means the template form provided by DBW that you completed as part of your application, summarising key information about your project; including (but not limited to) details of your chosen installer(s) and the costs quoted for each Eligible Measure.
‘Project Information Summary’ means the breakdown of funding offered to you under the Scheme and related details of your chosen installer(s), a copy of which is provided in Annex D.
‘Property’ means the property described in the Key Terms at the beginning of the IG Letter issued to you.
‘Recommendations Reports’ refers collectively to the Improvement Options Evaluation and the Medium Term Plan, as provided by your Retrofit Coordinator. Further information on the Recommendations Reports is provided on page 10 of the Scheme’s guidance document.
‘Registered’ refers to an installer being registered with TrustMark and the relevant body in respect of the relevant type of Eligible Measure being installed by them.
‘“TrustMark” means the UK Governments endorsed Quality Scheme that covers the work of a TrustMark registered business.
‘WM’ means the Welsh Ministers.
Annex B - Eligible measures
The Letter must be applied for and used in respect of at least one of the “Eligible Measures” listed below. Eligible Measures that can be covered by an IG Letter are as follows:
Low temperature ("Heat Pump ready") heating system upgrades
Air Source Heat Pump Top Up (net of BUS)
Ground Source Heat Pump Top Up (net of BUS)
High Heat Retention storage heaters
Biomass boiler
Solar PV
Battery (for Solar)
Solar Thermal
External Wall Insulation
Solid Wall Insulation
High Performance Glazing (from single)
Floor Insulation
Flat roof or room in roof insulation
High Performance Glazing (from double)
Cavity Wall Insulation
"Virgin" Loft Insulation (from 0mm)
"Top Up" Loft Insulation (from 125mm)
Draft proofing
Ventilation (moisture control)
Heat controls and smart home energy management systems
Annex C – Eligibility Requirements
To apply for the Letter and “redeem” the Installation Grant, the applicant must own their home, which is an Eligible Property. An Eligible Property is a Property which is:
An owner-occupied home (homeowners, with a freehold or long-leasehold interest in accommodation which they own outright, or own with a mortgage) which is situated in Wales.
But excluding:
Any new-build properties that have not previously been occupied in the past 6 months from the date of application.
Non-domestic properties.
Landlords of private rented sector domestic properties.
Landlords of social sector domestic properties.
Properties outside of Wales.
Properties that are listed or are in a Conservation area that require additional permissions for works to be carried out.
Green Homes Wales Loan Standard Terms and Conditions
1. Purpose
1.1 The Green Home Wales Scheme (the “Scheme”) is a scheme under which DBW Investments (11) Limited (“DBW”) supports the installation, in domestic properties located in Wales, of certain types of energy efficiency improvement measures and low carbon heating systems (these being the ‘Eligible Measures’ which are described in Annex B of these terms and conditions).
1.2 Loans under the Scheme will be offered to eligible property owners as an unsecured loan (the “Fixed Sum Loan”), which must be used by the recipient(s) to pay for the installation of the Eligible Measures at the Property.
1.3 You acknowledge that you are borrowing money for the purpose of installing Eligible Measures at your Property and undertake to make all of the required payments to us by direct debit, in full and on time, without reducing the payments for any reason whatsoever, including, without limitation, set off or deduction.
2. Undertakings
2.1 You must not be a business or apply on behalf of a business and your Property must not be listed as a business asset.
2.2 You must:-
(a) own or jointly own the Property as a natural person and it must be your only private residence;
(b) have instructed a Retrofit Coordinator who will provide end-to-end support throughout the selection and installation of the Eligible Measures at the Property. The Retrofit Coordinator must be registered with the UK Government’s “TrustMark” scheme;
(c) provide all documentation which is required by the Scheme from time to time;
(d) ensure the installer who you contract with to supply and install the Eligible Measures at your Property is registered with Trustmark and must remain registered until the installation work has been completed;
(e) ensure that the works and goods provided for the installation of the Eligible Measures are properly guaranteed and if required, take out and maintain insurance for your Eligible Measures with a reputable insurer, against appropriate risks to the extent required;
(f) be the person who will own the Property at the time we pay the Total Loan Amount to you and upon completed installation of the Eligible Measures, will be the person who owns those such Eligible Measures;
(g) Obtain any planning or other consents or licence required and maintain and comply with all necessary licences, consents and laws;
(h) if requested, provide evidence that the Total Loan Amount was used for the purpose detailed in this agreement;
(i) acknowledge the support given by us in all forms of publicity related to the Fixed Sum Loan. Publicity for these purposes includes announcements, press releases, media interviews and official launches, and contact us to discuss this publicity requirement;
(j) co-operate with us or the Welsh Government for publicity and/or case study purposes; and
(k) provide us with such information concerning the installed Eligible Measures as we may require from time to time.
2.3 We are not required to monitor your use of the Fixed Sum Loan.
3. Representations And Warranties
In deciding to make the Total Loan Amount to you, DBW has relied on certain things being true, including the things that you confirm in this Paragraph 3. You confirm that and for so long as the loan is outstanding:
(a) your Property is your main residence and it will not be used as a holiday home or second home;
(b) all factual information supplied by you to us in connection with the Scheme was true as at its date and did not leave out anything material;
(c) no change has occurred since you provided information to us which renders that information untrue or misleading and all statements of belief and opinion given by you to us were made in good faith after careful enquiry and remain valid; and
(d) no event contained in paragraph 4 below has occurred which has not been corrected or that we have consented to.
4. Default
4.1 If an event described in this paragraph occurs (known as an “Event of Default”) and has not been waived by us in writing, we shall be entitled after the expiry of proper notice in writing to you to require repayment (immediately or otherwise as we might request) of the Fixed Sum Loan together with other amounts payable under this agreement.
4.2 The following are Events of Default:-
(a) you fail to pay when due any sum payable by you under this agreement;
(b) you fail to comply with any other provision this agreement;
(c) any confirmation in paragraph 3 above proves to have been untrue or inaccurate in any material respect;
(d) you become insolvent or stop or suspend payment of your debts or you are (or are deemed to be) unable to pay your debts as they fall due or propose
or enter into any agreement or composition for the benefit of your creditors generally;
(f) you have a bankruptcy order made against you;
(g) you die or become incapable of managing and administering your property and affairs by reason of lack of capacity (within the meaning of the Mental Capacity Act 2005);
(h) any part of this agreement, or any related document is or becomes (or is alleged to be) unlawful or unenforceable in any respect; or
(i) any other circumstance or event occurs which in our reasonable opinion, may have a material adverse effect on you or your ability to perform your obligations under this agreement, and/or any related document.
5. Failure to make your Monthly Repayments
5.1 If you fail to make your Monthly Repayments on time, it is an Event of Default pursuant to paragraph 4 above and interest will be become due on any payment missed at the rate of 2.5% above Bank of England Base Rate on a daily basis from the date the payment is missed. If that happens, we may recalculate your payments, extend the Term of your Loan Agreement and/or continue to collect the Monthly Repayments until your loan is repaid in full. It also means one of the following may apply:
(a) we may report your breach to credit reference agencies;
(b) you may find it difficult to obtain credit in the future;
(c) we may end this agreement and require you to repay the full outstanding balance, including any interest that has accrued. We shall give you advance notice before we do this and a reasonable opportunity to bring your account up to date; and/or
(d) we may bring legal proceedings against you which could result in the debt being secured against any property you own and/or a petition for your bankruptcy.
6. Assignment and Authority to Disclose Information
6.1 You may not assign or transfer any of your rights or obligations under this agreement, or any related document.
6.2 You confirm that we may assign all or any part of our rights under this agreement, or any related document and we may disclose on a confidential basis to any actual or potential assignee or transferee of any such rights, any information about you we consider appropriate.
6.3 You confirm that we can, whilst the Total Loan Amount is outstanding, approach any person to obtain any information concerning your Property and the installed assets from time to time. You will authorise any such person to disclose to us any information we require.
6.4 You confirm that we can disclose to the Welsh Government and any subsidiaries of that organisation any information obtained by us as a result of providing the Fixed Sum Loan.
7. General
7.1 If we choose not to exercise any right against you immediately, we can still do so later, unless we have specifically agreed in writing that we will not do so.
7.2 If any part of this agreement is not valid or enforceable then that will not affect any other part.
7.3 We may send any notice under this agreement to you at your address stated on page 1 of this agreement or the address last known to us. You must tell us as soon as possible if you change your address. All notices or other communications to us under this agreement are to be given to us by the means stated in the Early Settlement section on page 2 of this agreement or to such other address as we such notify to you from time to time.
7.4 If we decide to temporarily relax the conditions of this agreement,
we won’t be prevented from enforcing our rights against you in
full at any time.
7.5 This agreement shall be governed by and construed according to the laws of England and Wales.
8. Interpretation
8.1 Any reference in this agreement to:
(a) you is to the Borrower(s) and where there is more than one borrower, we may release any one or more of you from your obligations under this agreement or make any other arrangement with you. Such release or other arrangements will not affect the obligations of the remaining borrowers. Each of you will be separately responsible for performing both your own obligations and those of your co-signatories under this agreement;
(b) we and us is to DBW Investments (11) Limited;
(c) related documents is any document entered into by any person under or in accordance with the provisions of the this agreement; and
(d) any legislation will include all amendments, substitutions and re-enactments in force from time to time.
8.2 Any reference to this agreement or any other document referred to in it will be construed as references to those documents in force from time to time and as amended, supplemented, restated, substituted or novated from time to time.
