Turbine Loan - 6742133163

Back after a rare day in the wild, so just to add my 'ouch'. I had budgeted what I had hoped to be a very conservative 75% loss on this, which unfortunately seems rather more bang on the money than anticipated.

Re: incorrect loan descriptions, (justified) investor complaints etc, you can really start to see why platforms might want to go for black box solutions can't you? Mind you, the idea of turning on Funding Circle's autobuy has never appealed, and I would be positively terrified to turn on Fundingsecure's!

Along with many others I would be interested to hear what the response of FS is to the concerns you might raise - ready to roll turbine once connected versus one needing  bucket loads of money thrown at it to make it work, brand spanking new condition versus one in decrepitude, foot-dragging by FS which has led to a lower long term electrical tariff being available than would have been the case if the turbine had been connected to the grid promptly, other assets of the borrowers company which could be pursued as the loan was not solely intended for payment of connection of the one turbine to the grid etc etc etc.  Each and every who stands to lose part of their investment could spend hours beavering away saying much the same to FS.   I can see their reply already - much wringing of hands but where there is lending there is risk which was spelt out in the valuation document so that a babe in arms as well as we sophisticated investors could have known that things could turn grim.

Sadly or happily as the case may be  for most the relatively small sums involved (up to £500 for me if all were to be lost) do not justify the effort involved.   As with many other investors I will avoid in future avoid wind turbines/green investments like the plague.   Investments in Northern Ireland are also likely to get short shrift and join my negative sentiments towards firms of accountants or solicitors and one where the pitch is that the borrower pledges a high value property asset to borrow money for other things as per the infamous London loan of a certain other platform.  Then I suppose you can add in expensive high speed boats that whisk money away in the blink of an eye.   I could go on!   

No surprises there.  Conveniently overlooks FS statement (which was provided after the valuation date) in the description of the asset that "the installation is complete awaiting final connection to the grid and activation".

In his valuation of 26/1/2016 the valuer stated "turbine is constructed but not as yet commissioned or connected to the grid".  Connection to the grid was quoted to cost £171845.79 plus VAT (£34369.16) of which a 20% deposit had been paid 3/11/2014 securing a favourable tariff connection (if completed by 31/3/2017).   Presumably the valuer took cognisance of these matters in arriving at his original valuation.

The valuer also took the view that because the plant had been installed only recently "in considering the modern replacement cost and obsolescence factors the original cost of this plant has been adopted" (because its modern equivalent replacement would be identical).   this seems at odds with recent information that "The engineering inspection carried out on behalf of the administrators raised concerns about the usability of the existing equipment, advising that it was likely to cost between £150k-£200k to replace parts that had either been damaged during the intervening period or were simply incompatible with more efficient, modern systems."


It is a bit like walking in treacle!  

"Professional" Valuers (mainly RICS Members so they must be good), their Valuation Reports and the subsequent ludicrous LTVs are a Scam Racket and readers on here are tired of me banging on about it, but needs must, particularly now that my warnings are coming home to roost and Investors are losing money.  And there's gonna be loads more.

Yes, we all need to take a few minutes to Complain, make a template letter and Complain to - RICS, The FCA, The Platform, your MP, etc, and Register your comments on TrustPilot, etc, etc.

If you want this fraud con stopped folks you know what yer gotta do, and do it now.

Mine too - my first in fact over the last 3-4 years, though others are already looking likely. In my view, the original pitch from FS was very misleading i.e. "The installation is complete awaiting final connection to the grid and activation". As a result, I won't countenance any further property investment with FS who clearly don't know what they're doing in this area - they should have taken charges on every project where the loan was to be applied and taken action to ensure a timely connection. Needless to say, I will also dissuade anyone else from doing so. 
Oh well, we all have to learn the hard way sometimes, and there are whole classes of loans which (with experience) I now won't touch. Fortunately, my overall rate of return remains over 10% currently which is about what I'd hoped for at the outset. 

Can't see BHs rolling over on this, or any other, errrrr, "suspect" Loans that have gone south for the winter.  VERY luckily I only had spare change in The Windmill, but I feel for those who had much more.