Quoting across a VEU rule change without losing the claim

Why doesn't the quote date protect you?

A co-payment isn't a price you advertised. It's a minimum the customer has to actually pay for the certificate to be valid. So the question is never what you quoted. It's what the customer paid, measured against the rule in force when the certificate was created.

So you can stick to your quote and still lose the claim. If the customer paid less than the minimum in force when the certificate was created, the certificate isn't valid.

And you can't make up the difference for them. Regulation 15A(1)(b) says you can't pay any of the co-payment back in any form. Not money, not goods, not services. Cash back, a free extra, a discount elsewhere on the invoice. They all kill the certificate.

How should you quote across a rule change?

1. Quote both versions and say which appliesIf the install might land either side of the date, price it both ways in the one document. Say plainly which figure goes with which install dates. Sorting that out before the job beats arguing about it after.
2. Tie the price to the dates, not the quoteIn writing. Add a line saying the customer's contribution depends on the VEU Specifications, the rulebook for each activity, in force when the job's installed and the certificate's created. That ends the argument before it starts.
3. Build in a buffer before the changeThe certificate's created after the install, not on the day. So a job installed in the last week before a change is the one most likely to go wrong.
4. Check the version on the dayThe Specifications changed six times between September 2025 and July 2026. Assume the one you read last quarter isn't the current one.

How do you know you've got the current version?

It's a dull habit, but it's the one that stops the expensive mistake. VEU Specifications 2018 is currently version 25.0, in effect from 21 July 2026.

On 24 September 2026 we found no sign of a version 26.0. The latest archived copy is v25, and the Essential Services Commission (ESC) hadn't announced a change since 30 July 2026. But the government site wouldn't let us check it directly, so treat that as our best read, not a confirmation.

Open the document, check the version on the cover and check the date it took effect. It takes thirty seconds, and it's the most valuable habit you can have when quoting this scheme.