Nick Bruining: State Government’s solar battery | Australian Markets
Warnbro resident John Wootton was delighted when the State Government introduced the solar battery rebate scheme.
But delight rapidly turned to anger when his software for an interest-free loan was rejected by the Government’s nominated lender.
The part-time college lecturer and his spouse had been fast to get their software in to take benefit of the loan offer — which is focused at low and middle-income earners — once they opened on July 1.
“We wanted to install a battery to complement our existing PV system. Apart from the State grant, the deal offered interest-free loans, which was a great incentive to support the scheme,” Mr Wooton mentioned.
Following a suggestion by his installer and instructions supplied on a Government web site, the Woottons made an software to the scheme’s third-party administrator Plenti for the interest-free loan.
“After supplying all our details — including unencumbered house ownership, Australian and UK pensions, plus our own superannuation income stream and plentiful access to casual work at Murdoch University — we were rejected,” Mr Wootton mentioned.
“I received a response to my first rejection email with no clear reason provided why I should be rejected. I can only think it was because we’re part-pensioners.”
The Woottons confirmed they’ve an unblemished credit report, together with a copy of a report from credit reference company Equifax of their software to Plenti.
Mr Wootton’s grievance was then escalated to Plenti’s inner dispute decision scheme — a necessary course of required of all Australian Financial Services licensees.
Plenti’s response to the grievance mentioned it was not ready to reveal the explanation why the loan software was declined..
“Disclosing precise reasons for loan decisions may undermine the integrity of the scheme, as such information could potentially be used to circumvent the credit assessment process in future applications,” Plenti mentioned.
The Woottons have been left to ponder their subsequent transfer.
“Part-pensioners like us will need to utilise credit cards or other high-interest means to join the scheme. This is despite the Government effectively endorsing the behaviour of this company,” Mr Wooton mentioned.
Another credit supplier, which requested to not be recognized, mentioned the rejected software may create points for the Woottons later on.
“Most loan enquiries show up on your credit report and may affect your credit history if too many enquiries occur over a short period, without any corresponding loans to match,” it mentioned.
Nick Bruining is an impartial financial adviser and a member of the Certified Independent Financial Advisers Association
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