Cavity wall insulation removal

tudbury40

I have bought a house that has cavity wall insulation which is causing a lot of damp issues.  I have found out that the insulation was done by a government grant with a company called Mark Group back in 2010.  I understand that the Mark Group has since gone into administration so I am unable to get any paperwork as proof.  Can anyone tell me if they have successfully claimed to have their cavity wall insulation removed by a government grant when they didn’t have any paperwork.  Many thanks 

Keep_pedalling

As the company who installed it no longer exists, you have no one to claim from.

stripling

tudbury40 said:

I have bought a house that has cavity wall insulation which is causing a lot of damp issues.  I have found out that the insulation was done by a government grant with a company called Mark Group back in 2010.  I understand that the Mark Group has since gone into administration so I am unable to get any paperwork as proof.  Can anyone tell me if they have successfully claimed to have their cavity wall insulation removed by a government grant when they didn’t have any paperwork.  Many thanks 

You need to  contact CIGA  to find out if it was registered under guarantee. If it was government grant work - even with a financial contribution from the home-owner, it may be.  The guarantees were for 25 years. Did you not get any copies of any paperwork when you bought the house? Invoices for the work or the paper guarantee? If the house had loft insulation installed at the same time there should be at least a business card or whatever in the loft. 

CIGA will want proof of address and various other bits and they are not easy to deal with. They've had so many claims let-out clause is their middle name.  You should probably contact them to find out if it was registered and when but take consumer advice before launching any claim - if you are eligible to claim.  Get your ducks in a row in other words. 

Scot_39

If nothing else - CIGA might sell you a duplicate certificate for the work.

The green grants were infamously associated with companies that came and went.

Leaving many with no recourse when problems occurred.

And not sure how well protected those reliantbon any so called trade body / industry guarantees truly are. 

Gerry1

Scot_39 said:

And not sure how well protected those reliant on any so called trade body / industry guarantees truly are. 

I never take any notice of these 'Federation of Master Widget Makers', 'Check-a-Workman' etc.  They're usually just promotional bodies.

The only ones I would trust are 'Which?' and 'Trading Standards Approved', but in my area the latter has virtually no entries and is a waste of time.

stripling

Gerry1 said:

Scot_39 said:

And not sure how well protected those reliant on any so called trade body / industry guarantees truly are. 

I never take any notice of these 'Federation of Master Widget Makers', 'Check-a-Workman' etc.  They're usually just promotional bodies.

The only ones I would trust are 'Which?' and 'Trading Standards Approved', but in my area the latter has virtually no entries and is a waste of time.

CIGA is nothing like that. They are the industry insurance body appointed by the government to issue the guarantees. These jobs weren't free, the government contributed but the homeowner paid the rest. 

CIGA do cover them but they make it very hard particularly as some of the companies were actually big names - the onus is on the homeowner to prove they have a case.  And some things, like wet cavities, are really hard to 'prove' that they are caused by the insulation job. 

Teapot55

Here’s my take on this problem:

1. Fairly sure we had the same company to do ours. We had a fair bit of replacement double glazing a few years later. We get a condensation problem, worse than it was before we had the cavity wall insulation. 

2. We use a dehumidifier upstairs where we tend to finish off drying the washing at this time of the year. We also use a Window Vac to remove any condensation that does form on the windows. 

3. Our retired engineer neighbour refused to have cavity wall insulation in his house.

4. Our daughter dries washing indoors on the radiators and keeps her thermostat down quite low (18° C?) but doesn’t get condensation despite having cavity wall insulation! 

michaels

Open your windows for 20 minutes every morning to air the house.  Cost of extra heating is small compared to cost of dealing with damp.

FreeBear

Teapot55 said: 1. Fairly sure we had the same company to do ours. We had a fair bit of replacement double glazing a few years later. We get a condensation problem, worse than it was before we had the cavity wall insulation.

If you read the guarantee carefully, you'll probably find a clause stating that replacing windows/doors or drilling holes through the cavity voids the warranty.