Thanks for choosing LightReach! Our Certified Installers are carefully vetted, so we'll keep this article brief. Everyone benefits from honest, ethical sales. With so many homes yet to install solar in the United States, there's enormous potential for all parties involved. We'll work together as industry professionals to chart a positive course, together.
The spirit of our compliance guidelines is simple, and summed up in 4 key points:
How We Approach Compliance
Our rules of engagement with partners follows a simple 1-2-3 sequence.
INTAKE: Intake the information or evidence of a compliance violation
PRESENT Request additional information or counter-evidence from the Certified Installer. Certified Installer has 48 hours to respond. Certified Installers are strongly encouraged to take additional precautions (recommendations below) to ensure that strong counter-evidence is available in the event of extreme customer claims.
ACTION: Render a decision and take action.
Depending on the context of the situation, LightReach reserves the right to take any appropriate action, including but not limited to:
Clawback of funds
Termination of rep/state/org access
Recommended Installer Actions
We recommend installers take sensible actions to protect their business against any potentially adverse customer claims. Rather than impose invasive compliance requirements across all markets, LightReach recommends each installer take sensible steps to insulate their business against adverse customer claims based on what works for their business. Common actions we recommend taking include but are not limited to:
Written Recaps | Simple written recaps such as emails, brochure leave behinds, etc that recap key Energy Plan and general solar terms/information. Typically an easy way to ensure key information is put in writing. |
Installer Verification Call
| Installer verification/welcome calls, if offered by the installer, are often a helpful way to record key terms and details with the customer. LightReach does not dictate any certain script, however, covering key Energy Plan and general solar terms/information is recommended. |
Family Involvement | Ensuring any/all relevant family members or decision makers are involved with higher risk customer groups (particular elderly customers) and fully educated on the sale. |
While LightReach does not require any of these items expressly for NTP, we may at the discretion of our underwriters stipulate deals to review and/all precautionary steps taken from the installer, when high risk factors are involved. In the event no precautions were taken, LightReach may at the discretion of our underwriters elect to halt the deal. Again, the specific steps an installer can take may vary widely and the above are more common examples. Having concrete counter-evidence in the event of any adverse customer claims helps protect installers against adverse or fraudulent customer claims.
Partner/Customer Transfer Policy
LightReach Policy
| LightReach takes the stance of an 'Open Market' Policy. |
LightReach Does Not... | Transfer customer agreements between partners. |
Action Required by Homeowners | Homeowners wishing to cancel With Certified Installer (A) and sign with a new Certified installer (B) must qualify and sign a new contract. This is in the interest of fairness to all of our Certified Installer partners. |
Subsidized Rate Plan Customer Policy
Some electric utilities offer specialized rate discounts to certain customer groups, such as low income or medical assistance/disability discounts. These programs can vary widely in scope and details. Common utility subsidized rate programs include:
California's CARE discount for those below 200% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL).
Eversource Massachusett's bill discount programs
Connecticut's bill discount programs
Eversource New Hampshires FPL discount programs
Rhode Island's A-60 Rate program
Various low income bill credits / Percentage of Income Payment Plan (PIPP) programs in NJ, PA, CO, OH, NV, VA, IL, WI.
LightReach Policy
| LightReach does not expressly prohibit all subsidized rate plan customers. However, we do take reasonable precautions to ensure that applicable homeowners are aware of the potential impacts of solar on their rate plan.
In many cases, customers who pay the utility less will save less (or not at all) with solar, and may not be a good fit for our Energy Plan product. |
LightReach Does Not... | LightReach does not expressly prohibit all subsidized rate plan customers. |
Additional Precautions | All homeowners acknowledge our subsidized rate plan disclosure when they complete their standard Customer Agreement Confirmation (NTP requirement).
Homeowners may at their discretion contact LightReach to review their bill rate plan for potential solar impacts.
In such situations, LightReach will provide homeowners with transparent information about the impact of solar on their rate plan. It is therefore imperative for sales representatives to be cognizant of subsidized customers during the sales process, and avoid customers who may be negatively impacted by solar.
Generally, LightReach will provide information to customers and assess their rate plan based on the impact of going solar:
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