Taking cavity wall insulator to court

sn1994 · 31 August 2019 at 4:12PM

Hello,

I'd really appreciate some advice here. My parents had cavity wall insulation installed around 2008 and I think there was a government scheme at the time, meaning everyone with a van seemed to be signing up for the scheme.

They had to come back three times to fix things and we suspected that they still didn't do it properly; but didn't want to damage the house to find out. For example: they tried to insulate an interior wall; they drilled in to radiators, and we later found out that they didn't have time to insulate the garage, so they just put the material on the floor to make it look done. They came out to do it again, and this time it seemed that they had.

We've been getting damp on one side of the house. Only when we were getting an extension built in March and when we cut through, the cavity is completely empty and the air bricks are untouched. I contacted CIGA, who seem to issue a certificate not worth the paper it's written on. They contact Miller Pattison, the installer, and for several months I get the run around. After threatening both with court, MP show up and do a survey. They agree that the work hasn't been done properly, and state that they can fix the problem.

They agree that as the extension is brand new, they'll have to drill from the inside. The guy agreed to make good on the internal fixings.

A few weeks later, I get a letter stating that they 'think' the work has been done correctly. As a gesture of good will they can re-fill the cavities, but I would be responsible for any costs on making the interior good. To me this sounds extremely dodgy.

Should I just open a Money Claim Online now? I don't have faith in this company doing the job properly and have contacted them several times to try and resolve the issue. They clearly don't care. My only concern is how I can now prove to a court that the work hasn't been done correctly without completely damaging my new extension.

Thank you in advance

molerat · 31 August 2019 at 5:06PM

Firstly, what are you going to issue a money claim for ? You need a surveyor in to assess what needs doing and put a cost on that work, whether the surveyor can produce a suitable report without any invasive works is another matter. You can then sue for that amount and any ancillary costs.