When a VEU claim fails, who actually carries it?

What does the enforcement record show?

In one case, an accredited provider admitted claiming up to 31,666 certificates for installs that didn't comply, across 82 sites. It was settled with a court enforceable undertaking, which is a formal promise to the regulator that a court can enforce.

In an earlier case, the regulator refused 831 certificates that hadn't been registered yet. It also made the provider hand back (surrender) 458 that already had been. The value reported was more than $140,000. Here's the part worth noticing. The contracted installer was no longer in the VEU program, and the accredited provider carried on trading under extra audit conditions.

In a third, a provider staged photos to fake proof that old units had been taken out. It even brought water heaters to places that never had one. Its accreditation was cancelled, with a five year ban on re-applying, and 2,586 certificates were refused.

Why does it land differently?

Because the accreditation and the work sit with different people. The accredited provider holds the relationship with the scheme and creates the certificates. You do the install and produce the evidence. When the evidence doesn't stand up, the certificates are their problem. Whether you keep getting scheme work is their call.

That's one of the biggest risks in this scheme for a small business, and it's not something the people you work under have much reason to point out.

What can you actually do about it?

1. Read what your agreement says about failed claimsSpecifically, who wears the cost if a certificate's refused after you've already discounted the customer's invoice. If the agreement's silent on that, the silence isn't in your favour.
2. Keep your own evidence, not just theirsYour copy of the photos, the co-payment record and the decommissioning evidence, held by you, dated. If the relationship ends badly you won't be getting access to theirs.
3. Never agree to cover the customer's co-paymentPaying any of it back in any form, whether that's a refund, a discount or a freebie, kills the certificate. If someone asks you to do it, the exposure isn't only theirs.
4. Know who you're actually working underCheck their accreditation is current before the job, not after the claim.