NEWS EXTRA THROWN UNDER THE BUS
Following the liquidation of installation specialist Vito energy, BMJ was contacted regarding a potential flaw in consumer protections surrounding the Boiler Upgrade Scheme. Oliver Stanley investigates.
LAUNCHED ON MAY 23 2022, the Boiler Upgrade Scheme (BUS) offers upfront capital grants towards the cost of installing approved heat pumps to support the decarbonisation of heat systems in buildings.
Housebuilder Pete Blades had read about the scheme and, intending to install an air source heat pump, reached out to find an installer to qualify for the grant.
Blades told BMJ: “I have a plumber who does all my work for me but he’s not appropriately certified to get the BUS grant on his own. You have to be MCS (Microgeneration Certification Scheme) certified.
“We found a company called VitoEnergy, who was an installer partner of plumbers merchant City Plumbing. With City Plumbing being such a prominent company, I decided to go with Vito as that seemed the easiest way to benefit from the scheme.”
City Plumbing partnered with VitoEnergy, under the MCS umbrella scheme, which allows customers access to government grants like the BUS without requiring installers to have their own full MCS certification. In essence, Vito would simply need to sign off that the installation met the requirements of the scheme once the installation was complete, applying for the grant on the customers behalf. Blades continued: “Essentially, they make sure everything is up to spec, and find the best heat pump for your project. You then buy the equipment from the merchant, in this case City Plumbing, and employ your plumber to install it” Once the installation was completed, the scheme required Vito Energy to sign it off, and report that back to Ofgem (The Office of Gas and Electricity Markets) applying for the grant, which would be passed back to Blades as the end customer.
8
“I received an email from OFGEM to confirm that all of this has happened, at which point the BUS grant was paid directly to Vito Energy, who should then have passed it on to me,” Blades explained. “On March 19, I got another email from OFGEM, saying that the grant had been paid to Vito Energy on that date. However, I never received it.” Blades said he tried contacting Vito Energy, even driving down to the office in person, only to find it closed and bolted.
Ceased trading “I contacted City Plumbing, because as partners of Vito Energy, I thought they would be able to tell me what had happened. Eventually, they said that VitoEnergy had ceased trading.”
VitoEnergy entered voluntary liquidation on May 19 2026, and SWBR (South West and Wales Business Recovery) were appointed as administrators. The administrators told Blades
that, as a second-class creditor, he would be unlikely to see any of the grant.
“I contacted both the Renewable Energy Consumer
Code and the MCS, and they told me there was nothing they could do. Things Vito Energy were meant to do, such as deposit insurance with IWS, a requirement under the scheme they failed to put in place, so I can’t even claim any insurance back,” he said.
“I just want to raise awareness that despite everyone’s good intentions and advertisements, there is a serious flaw in the scheme’s consumer protections. “My heat pump is fully working and commissioned, but I paid far more for it than I should’ve done.” Hemal Morjaria, chief commercial officer at City Plumbing, said: “This example shows how important it is for government-backed schemes to have clear safeguards in place for customers, installers and responsible businesses across the supply chain. These schemes can make a real difference in helping people access lower-carbon technologies, but when issues like this arise, the industry must be prepared to act quickly, escalate them through the right channels, and take practical steps to protect those affected.
“We are aware of the difficulties facing customers
and installers following Vito Energy’s insolvency, and we fully sympathise with those affected. “City Plumbing acted solely as a product supplier and had no contractual or legal role in these installations or the administration of government grants. Our partnership with Vito Energy was formed in good faith, based on their accredited status at the time. “While we were not legally responsible for the installation works or grant administration, we believe we have a responsibility to act when serious concerns are brought to our attention. Following recent evidence concerning undelivered BUS grants and a lack of mandatory consumer protection insurance, we have formally escalated the matter to both Ofgem and the MCS, requesting an urgent investigation into VitoEnergy’s conduct and the potential misappropriation of public funds. “We are also taking steps to protect our network of independent installers by placing an immediate hold on trade accounts for any materials which are linked to disputed Vito Energy projects while the regulatory and insolvency processes continue.” BMJ
www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net August 2026
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40
