At the door, nothing has to be decided
Wigan Council's page on doorstep crime is short and blunt. It says the most vulnerable people in the community are often targeted by doorstep traders who persuade them to have work done, and that in some cases the work is unnecessary, overpriced or of very poor quality (Wigan Council). It asks residents to report an unwanted caller to the council or to Greater Manchester Police, and the contact details for both are on that page rather than here.
Some solar is sold this way, on the step or by a phone call that leads to a visit, and the same answer works for both. Take the name of the company, take any leaflet, and end the conversation. A firm worth hiring will still be there once you have checked it, and nothing said on a doorstep can make a price, a grant or a slot in the diary more real. The council also offers booklets of tips on dealing with unwanted callers, runs awareness events, works with the police, Age UK and Victim Support, and has set up a number of No Cold Calling Zones in the borough (Wigan Council).
A roof system can only be sold to whoever owns the roof, and two in three of the borough's households own their home: 66.4%, according to the 2021 Census (Census 2021). If you rent, the seller is talking to the wrong person, and renting and solar explains who to ask instead.
Fourteen days to change your mind
A contract you agree with a seller in your own home is what the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 call an off-premises contract. The definition also catches a deal finished at the firm's office or over the phone straight after the seller spoke to you in person at home (regulation 5). For these contracts you can cancel within the cancellation period without giving a reason, and the usual period is 14 days (Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013).
When those 14 days end depends on what you bought. For a service they run from the day the contract is made; for goods, from the day the goods come into your possession (regulation 30). RECC, one of the consumer codes for renewable installers, puts it plainly: in many cases you have 14 days to cancel without penalty, but your rights depend on how and where you entered into the contract (RECC). A solar job is usually equipment plus fitting, so if a firm says your time has already run out, ask it to explain in writing how it counted.
The paperwork matters as much as the date. The seller has to give you the cancellation information and a cancellation form on paper, or on another durable medium such as email if you agree (regulation 10), and a copy or confirmation of the contract before any service begins (regulation 12). If the information on the right to cancel is never given, the period does not quietly lapse: it ends 14 days after you finally receive it, or 12 months after it would otherwise have ended (regulation 31).
Cancelling is simpler than some sellers make it sound. You can use the cancellation form you were given, or any other clear statement that you have decided to cancel, and the cancellation counts as long as you send it before the period ends, even if it arrives afterwards (regulation 32). Email is the easiest proof; if you post a letter, get a certificate of posting and keep a copy.
Work that starts inside the 14 days
Some sellers offer to start next week, which sounds helpful and changes your position. A trader must not begin a service within the cancellation period unless you have expressly asked it to, and for a contract made at home that request has to be on paper or another durable medium (regulation 36). If you do ask and then cancel, you pay for what was supplied up to the point you told the firm, in proportion to the whole job.
Two further rules matter. The first protects you: if the trader never gave you the cancellation information, or started without a request from you, you bear no cost for work done in that period. The other runs the opposite way: once a job you asked to be started early has been fully carried out, with your acknowledgement that the right to cancel would then end, it cannot be cancelled at all (regulation 36). The safe course is to refuse an early start until you have made the checks.
When the pitch is a grant
A claim that you qualify for a grant is the line to slow down for. In England there is no grant for solar panels for households that can afford them; the government's Warm Homes Plan keeps its grants for lower-income homes and points everyone else to low-interest loans (Warm Homes Plan). The help that exists locally is GMCA's Warm Homes: Local Grant, and its own page sets the test: an owner-occupied home at EPC band D to G, or a private let at D or E, and a household that lives in one of the most deprived postcodes, receives a listed means-tested benefit, meets two of six listed proxies or has a combined gross income below £36,000 (GMCA).
A seller on the step cannot apply that test for you. GMCA offers measures in the order a retrofit assessment recommends, so a genuine route starts with an application and an assessment, not a signature in the hall. Its page does not list the boroughs it covers, and Wigan appears on it only as the AWARM Wigan referral route, so ask GMCA's Retrofit Team whether your address is covered and whether your household meets one of those routes before believing anyone who says it does. Help with the cost sets out every route in full.
The other lever is time: a discount said to be good for one day only, or a price that holds only until the seller leaves. A fair price will still be fair once you have checked it. In 2025/26, North West households paid a mean of £2,021 per kW for systems up to 4 kW and £1,768 per kW for 4 to 10 kW (DESNZ), so any quote can be set against a known figure in a few minutes on the quote checker. RECC says it forbids its members from using any form of unfair selling tactic, from first contact to signing the contract (RECC); if a member firm leans on you, note what was said and when. The costs page explains what moves a real price up or down.
Seller lines, and what to do about each
The table pairs the lines that come up at the door, or on the phone before a visit, with a response and a place to check. None of the responses needs an argument; most need only a pen and a few days.
| The line | What to do | Where to check |
|---|---|---|
| "You qualify for a grant, but only if you sign now" | Sign nothing. Eligibility is settled through the scheme's own application and assessment. | GMCA's grant page; the help with the cost page |
| A price said to hold only while the seller is in the house | Ask for the quote in writing and compare it at your own pace. | DESNZ North West prices; the quote checker |
| "We're fitting your neighbour's roof, so we can fit you in" | Treat it as a reason to check the firm, not to sign. | The MCS installer search, under the name on the paperwork |
| "This form only books the survey" | Read it. A form with a price and a signature box may be the contract. Keep a copy. | The cancellation information you were given |
| "We can start next week" | Do not ask for work to begin inside the 14 days until the checks are done. | Regulation 36 of the 2013 regulations |
| "The panels will wipe out your bills" | Ask for the yearly performance estimate in kWh, in writing. | RECC's advice; the quote checker's PVGIS figures |
| "We're working with the council" | Ask which team, then contact the council yourself through its own website. | Wigan Council's Trading Standards pages |
For the paperwork a proper quote carries, see what a quote should include; the glossary explains terms such as kWh and performance estimate.
Reporting a caller in Wigan
Wigan Council's Trading Standards page asks residents to report unwanted callers and find out how to deal with them, and invites people to become Neighbourhood Champions, who help protect their neighbourhood from doorstep crime (Wigan Council). Write down what you can while it is fresh: the company name, the seller's name, the time, what was said and anything you were handed.
The same page links the Good Trader Scheme, described there as a list of reliable, reputable traders; it does not say who runs the list. Use it alongside the register checks on checking a solar installer, not instead of them. If a firm you signed with will not accept a cancellation, or work goes ahead that you never agreed to, when an installation goes wrong sets out the steps in order.