Liverpool Solar Grants Guide
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Scams

Solar grant scams and cold calls: how to tell

Grant schemes attract imitators. The genuine ones in Liverpool have a recognisable shape: you register through GOV.UK, the council contacts you, its staff carry identification, and nobody asks for a fee. Anything that doesn't fit that shape deserves a pause.

Where you stand

Genuine Warm Homes: Local Grant applications in Liverpool start with you registering on the GOV.UK portal. The council won't take interest by phone or email, there's no application fee, and programme staff carry photo ID. Cold calls offering grants at no cost should be checked independently before you share anything.

Who decides: You. Don't share details until you've found the scheme yourself on a council or GOV.UK page.

Checked with the councils' and GOV.UK's own pages on 3 November 2026 · Published by SEO-DONS LTD, an independent guide: not a council, a grant scheme or an installer

How genuine schemes work

What the councils actually do

Liverpool City Council's Warm Homes: Local Grant page sets out the only route in: register through the official government referral portal. It says it can't accept applications or expressions of interest made directly to its team by email or phone. If your application progresses, a council engagement officer contacts you, and later the council's framework contractor surveys the home.

The Combined Authority's page adds a safeguard worth adopting everywhere in the region: all local authority staff, Combined Authority staff and the delivery contractor working on the programme carry photographic identification. If you're unsure of someone's identity, it says, don't let them into your home.

How scams work

Common patterns

Some approaches are outright scams, after money or bank details. More are lead generation dressed up as a scheme: a website or caller "checking eligibility" for a grant, then selling your details to installers. Some imply official status they don't have.

The Advertising Standards Authority ruled against one such operation in 2019: adverts for a "Government Solar Checker" that implied a government scheme where there wasn't one. The lesson holds: names like "government", "council" or "scheme" in an advert prove nothing. Find the scheme yourself, on a council or GOV.UK page, before you share anything.

Warning signs

Six signs to stop and check

Compared with the steps on Liverpool City Council's and the Combined Authority's pages, read 3 November 2026.
SignHow the genuine scheme differs
They contacted you firstLiverpool’s scheme starts with you registering on the GOV.UK portal
They want a fee to “secure” a grant or a surveyNo fee appears in the councils’ steps
They want bank details on the first callThe council asks for evidence of income later, through its own officer
The deadline is todayLiverpool’s scheme runs in yearly rounds; registration for year three is open
They say every household qualifiesThe scheme needs EPC D to G and one of three pathways
No ID, or ID you can’t checkThe Combined Authority says programme staff carry photo ID

The law

What sellers are banned from doing

Schedule 20 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 lists commercial practices that are banned outright. Two are common in doorstep and phone selling: falsely stating that a product, or particular terms, will only be available briefly, to push an immediate decision; and ignoring a consumer's request to leave their home or not to return, except where justified to enforce a contract.

So a false deadline on a grant offer, or a visitor who won't leave when asked, isn't just bad manners. You can say no, close the door, and check the scheme in your own time.

If you've shared details

What to do next

  1. If you've given bank details or paid money, contact your bank straight away using the number on your card.

  2. Make a note of who contacted you, when, and what they said.

  3. See Citizens Advice's guidance on scams for how to report it and get help.

  4. If you still want to apply for the genuine scheme, register yourself through the GOV.UK portal.

Paying-yourself offers

Pressure in ordinary sales

Not every pushy seller is a scammer. Some are selling panels you'd pay for, with a grant mentioned to get through the door. Treat those as ordinary sales: get written quotes, compare at least two, check MCS certification, and don't sign on the day. The VAT zero rate runs to 31 March 2027, so there's time to compare. See a buying checklist.

Savings promises

Figures without workings

Cold calls often lead with a saving. What panels are worth depends on the roof, how much electricity you use at home, your tariff and your export rate. A figure offered without those assumptions is sales talk. Compare any output claim with the PVGIS figures on our solar in Liverpool page.

Older relatives

Helping someone else check an offer

If an older relative or neighbour mentions a call about a grant, offer to look up the scheme with them on the council's or GOV.UK's own website. Agree a simple rule: no details on a call they didn't make, and no visitor without identification that's been checked with the council on a number found independently.

Quick answers

Scam questions

Someone called saying I qualify for solar panels at no cost. Is it real?

Be very wary. Liverpool City Council’s scheme starts with you registering through the GOV.UK portal, not with a cold call. Don’t give details on the phone; check the scheme yourself on the council’s website.

Does the council charge to apply?

There’s no fee in the steps Liverpool City Council sets out, and it says it won’t ask qualifying households for a financial contribution.

Can I ask a salesperson to leave?

Yes. Ignoring a consumer’s request to leave their home or not to return is a banned practice under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, except where justified to enforce a contract.

Where do I report a scam?

Citizens Advice explains how to report scams and what to do if you’ve shared details or paid money.

Sources for this page

A question about solar funding in Liverpool?

Tell us what you're trying to find out. Your message reaches SEO-DONS LTD, which publishes this guide, and we answer by email. We don't run any grant scheme, decide eligibility or install panels, but we can point you to the scheme and the council that does.

What happens next

  1. Your message reaches SEO-DONS LTD, publisher of this guide.
  2. We answer by email, pointing to the scheme or council that applies.
  3. Any application is made to the council or scheme itself.
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