A rejected claim rarely feels like a regulatory event. It feels like a delay: an email from a trader or the registry, a job that should have been money and is now a task. The causes are mostly mundane, and most of them are visible in the file before the claim goes in.
This page lists the patterns we see most in battery claims under the Cheaper Home Batteries Program, what each looks like, and how to fix it. For the general solar picture, see top STC claim rejection reasons and the answer on why a claim was rejected. Batteries add their own failure modes on top.
1. Evidence that does not meet the 2026 rules
New battery photo and evidence rules applied from 1 March 2026. A claim built on last year’s habits, with one wide shot and a serial photo taken from an angle, can fall short.
What it looks like: a query asking for clearer photos, or for evidence the first set did not include. The fix: retake or locate the missing images. If you cannot, a site visit is the only way. See the battery photo guide. Prevention: a fixed set of photos, taken in a fixed order, with the serial photographed square-on and checked before you leave.
2. Serial and model mismatches
The serial on the label, in the photo, on the form and in the registry have to agree. A transposed digit, a zero read as an O, or a battery module serial entered in place of the system serial is enough.
What it looks like: a query naming the field that does not match. The fix: correct the registry entry if the photo is right, or retake the photo if the entry is right. Prevention: enter serials from the photo, not from memory or the box.
3. An ineligible or wrongly described battery
The battery must be CEC-approved and VPP-capable. A model that looks the same as an approved one but has a different suffix, or a firmware or configuration variant that is not listed, will fail.
What it looks like: the claim is rejected at the eligibility check. The fix: if the model is genuinely not eligible, the certificates cannot be created. The discount you gave the customer is now your cost. Prevention: match the exact model number to the list at quote time. Our answer on the CEC list shows where. And note usable capacity: the program uses usable kWh, and a 5 kWh minimum applies.
4. Assignment form problems
Unsigned, undated, signed by someone who is not the owner, or with an address that differs from the other documents. Our assignment form resource lists what it must contain.
What it looks like: the claim is held until the form is corrected. The fix: go back to the customer for a corrected signature. Before you do, check whether the form is really wrong or whether a different document is. Prevention: complete the form at handover, with the invoice and compliance certificate beside you.
5. Date inconsistencies
The installation date drives the factor. If the compliance certificate, the form and the registry entry carry different dates, the claim is queried, and the wrong date can cost real money.
Here is the number. A 14 kWh battery installed on 30 December 2026 creates 95 STCs at the 6.8 factor, $3,610 at $38. Dated 2 January 2027 by mistake, it creates 79 STCs at 5.7, $3,002. The error costs $608, and a clerical correction in the other direction is only available if the evidence supports it.
The fix: work out which date is true from the evidence, and correct the one that is wrong. Prevention: record the installation date on site, and make sure the compliance certificate follows it.
6. Accreditation and installer details
An expired accreditation, a mistyped number or a name that does not match the registry record can stop a claim. The program requires an accredited installer, and the claim must show who attended. See installer attendance requirements and checking an accreditation number.
7. A duplicate or an existing claim at the property
The program allows one battery per property. A second claim at the same address, even by a different installer, will fail.
The fix: investigate whether the earlier battery was claimed, and whether this job is a replacement or an addition. Do not resubmit without an answer. Prevention: ask the customer at quote time and document the answer.
What a rejection costs
Imagine 3 queried claims in a month of 30, each worth $3,300, each needing a re-visit. Direct cost, at about $120 of time and fuel per visit, is $360. Delayed value is $9,900 held for an extra week or two. If your cost of money is 12 per cent a year, a two-week delay on $9,900 costs about $45. So in cash terms the delay is minor, and the visits are the real expense. The bigger exposure is the rare claim that cannot be fixed, where the certificates are never created and the customer’s discount has to be absorbed. At $3,300, one of those wipes out the margin on several clean jobs.
When a query becomes an audit
Most queries end when the evidence is fixed. A pattern of them can draw closer attention to an installer or an agent. Keeping your rejection rate low, and keeping records of how you fixed each one, makes you a less interesting audit target and a better trading partner. See how STC audits work and our answer on fixing a failed claim.
Who carries the loss when a claim fails
The answer sits in your contract, which is why it is worth reading before the first failure rather than after. If you lodge through a trader or agent, ask three things. Does the agreement allow them to hold or reduce payment on a claim that fails? Does it allow them to claw back payment after a certificate has been created and later disallowed? And who pays for any re-lodgement?
On a clean claim none of this matters. On a claim that cannot be saved, it decides whether the loss falls on the installer, the trader or the customer. Installers who gave a discount on the invoice have already moved the money; if the certificates are never created, the discount was a gift. That is the sharpest reason to confirm eligibility at quote time, before the discount is promised, rather than at lodgement.
A recovery plan for a rejected claim
When a claim is rejected, work through the same order each time. First, read the exact wording of the query or rejection, and identify the single field or document in question. Second, check the job file to see whether the evidence exists: a photo you have not uploaded, a form you have but sent the wrong version of. Third, decide whether the fix needs the customer or a site visit, or only an admin correction. Fourth, correct and resubmit once, with a short note on what you changed. Fifth, record the cause in your log so the next claim avoids it.
Most queries that are handled this way close within a few days. The ones that drag on are usually the ones where the fix requires the customer’s signature or a second visit, which is why getting the paperwork complete at handover is cheaper than any later repair.
What to do next
- Keep a rejection log: date, cause, fix, cost. Review it monthly.
- Add each new cause to your checklist, starting with the battery submission checklist.
- Fix the date habit: installation date on site, same date on every document.
- Read the battery STC pillar and how it works.
- Use a pre-check. Energy Merchants’ compliance desk reviews every claim before it is lodged, so problems are caught early. Start trading.