MCS certification or an umbrella scheme: which lets you sell the heat pump leads you buy?

Many heat pump enquiries start with a grant search. The homeowner has read that the Boiler Upgrade Scheme pays £7,500 towards an air source or ground source heat pump, and the enquiry form has flagged that they may qualify. That lead is worth a great deal to the right installer and almost nothing to the wrong one, and the difference is not skill or price. It is whether you can claim the grant.

£7,500 Boiler Upgrade Scheme grant towards a heat pump in England and Wales — claimed by the installer, not the homeowner

Why MCS decides who can buy the lead

The grant is paid against an installation certified under the Microgeneration Certification Scheme, and it is the MCS-certified business that applies for the voucher on the homeowner's behalf. No certificate, no grant. A homeowner who was quoted with £7,500 taken off the price by one firm is not going to pay full price to another, so a grant-led enquiry that lands with an installer who cannot certify the work is a lead that comes straight back as a return. It is why we now ask every heat pump buyer how they certify before we send them a grant-led enquiry.

There are two honest answers to that question. You hold your own MCS certification, or you install under somebody else's through an umbrella scheme. Both let you claim the grant. They differ in what they cost, how long they take, and who ends up owning the customer.

Route one: your own certification

You apply to an MCS-approved certification body, show that the people doing the work hold the relevant heat pump qualifications, put a quality management system in place, join a consumer code, and pass an assessment that includes a real installation. Expect the first year to run into four figures once the assessment, membership and code fees are added up, and expect it to take months rather than weeks if you are starting from a boiler business with no renewables paperwork.

What you get for that is independence. Every heat pump job is yours end to end: the design, the commissioning, the certificate, the warranty relationship and the referral that follows a good install. Your margin is not shared with anyone, and the homeowner only ever deals with you.

Route two: an umbrella scheme

An umbrella provider is an MCS-certified business that designs the system, supplies the kit, and commissions and certifies the installation you carry out. The better ones handle the grant paperwork as well, and some deduct the grant from the quote up front and carry the cash flow until the voucher is redeemed, which for a small firm is the difference between selling heat pumps and not.

Most schemes advertise no membership fee. Read that carefully: the provider is paid through the price of the design and the equipment, so the cost is real, it is just inside the kit price rather than on a separate invoice. Ask for a worked example on a typical job before you sign anything.

The other cost is the customer. Under an umbrella arrangement the provider owns the system from commissioning, carries the warranty, and is the name on the certificate. Several are open about gathering homeowner referrals from your installs. You are the fitter in the customer's eyes, and the provider is the company. For some businesses that is exactly the trade they want. For one building a brand, it is worth knowing before the first job, not after the tenth.

Side by side

What to ask an umbrella provider

• A worked price for a typical install, kit and design included, so you can see the margin you are giving up
• Who the homeowner contracts with, and whose name is on the MCS certificate and the warranty
• Whether they front the grant or you carry the £7,500 until the voucher clears
• What happens to the customer relationship afterwards, including referrals and servicing
• Their consumer code membership and how complaints are handled
• How they meet the current MCS scheme rules on responsibility for work done under their certification

That last question matters more than it used to. MCS has been redeveloping its scheme with a heavier emphasis on the certified business being accountable for every installation carried out under its certificate. A well-run umbrella already works that way, since the provider commissions and certifies every job. Check the rules in force at the time rather than the provider's founding date.

What this means for the leads you buy

• Tell your lead supplier how you certify. We record it against every heat pump buyer and only send grant-led enquiries to installers who are certified or under an umbrella.
• If you are neither, buy boiler and non-grant heat pump enquiries only until you are. A grant-led lead you cannot fulfil is money spent on a return.
• If you are under an umbrella, agree with the provider who quotes and who calls, because the enquiry is yours and the certificate is theirs.
• If you hold your own certification, say so on your website and in your quotes. It is a reason to choose you that most homeowners never hear.