CIGA Cavity Insulation Guarantee Agency Reviews 143

I have been in contact with CIGA about poor workmanship with not filling all the walls of the bungalow and missing areas above the windows. This has caused mould and condensation in these areas. I’m in receipt of the 25 year guarantee which was from the previous owner and the company that installed it have gone out of business (like many companies who jumped on the ban wagon for grants) CIGA initially suggested opening windows and having airflow! I can see areas have been missed from the loft space! They now have sent this email!
:-Whilst we do of course understand your concerns, CIGA is not involved at pre-installation assessment stage or indeed installation stage, and not therefore involved in discussions and agreement regarding omitted, inaccessible or unsuitable areas.

Purposely omitted areas are not therefore covered under the CIGA guarantee.

Under the circumstances CIGA is unable to be of any further assistance in this matter.

So what cover do you get. They haven’t even offered to send someone out to look.

:- I’m sure there are many people nationwide with these issues and I’m looking to inform watchdog and an ombudsman and find out exactly what this guarantee is meant to cover.

I have contacted you via email with obvious issues.. you will not even send an inspector out! From my mobile phone picture you have 1st blamed poor maintenance and then 2nd said my damp proof course need looking at… I have all the symptoms of failed or badly installed insulation yet from the very first email it was obviously not going to even send anyone out because it’s too expensive.. I have had various tradesmen tell me the problem .. but you still refuse….

DONT GET CAVITY WALL INSULATION.

YOU CANNOT BEAT CIGA WE NEED TO GET TOGETHER

What I have looked Up CIGA

10 directors 6 staff

Brian Yates Non-Executive
On company house he Mr Yates as been involved with a company that is dissolved every 2-3 years and then comes back to life

It Looks like this man has been involved with Which magazine before it was WITCH MAGAZINE Consumer rights organisation He IS a big PLAYER WITH WITCH MAGAZINE . He may even own it.

AND THIS IS ONLY ONE DIRECTOR

BUT IF YOU HAVE FOLLOW THESE STEPS

CIGA IS THER TO PROTECT THE COMPANIES NOT YOU

First they will try and flob you off

Find how to report a concern this is called THE JOURNEY MAP.

FIRST STEP CONTACT THE INSTALLER

THEN CIGA

THEN ON THIER SITE THEIR IS A TEMPLATE SUBJECT ACCESS REQUEST FORM

THEN YOU NEED A FORM FROM THEM ITS CALLED. THE INDEPENDENT ARBITRATION PROCESS

when you contact them that costs £100

unfortunately I felt pressured into getting cavity wall insulation installed there was no survey carried out and the certificate promised was never received to mention a few things . I HAVE HAD problems with the roof for years and I got a new roof and which is full of black mold due to lack of air flow here is what CIGA are doing to put me off . NO matter how many times I ask them for information ie The Ombusmsn trade organisation they ignore that but keep saying not our problem THE BEST THING TO DO IS NOT GET CAVITY WALL INSULATION. IF I CAN WIRK OUT HOW TO DO IT I WILL PUT UP THE VIDEO OF WHAT THIS HAS DONE TO MY NEW ROOF . But here is my fight with them

CIGA IS there to protect their members not the suckers who got the insulation insulation installed here are what they are saying

CIGA IS there to protect thier guarantee holders email received 10/01/2024. 10.38

as they have had no record of correspondence reporting similar concerns in the interim 21 years . they are not going to honour the 25 year old warrenty

You need to go through Cegi to get to IADP. THE INDEPENDENT ARBITRATION DISPUTE PROCESS. which charges £100 they do everything to put you off but I will let you know the next step with these.

I made a mistake with the date of the installation due to person problems now ciga have decided had thus removed and re installed

REPLY TO CIGA

WHEN I WAS FIRST DIRECTED TO YOU I BELIEVED YOU WWRE THERE TO HELP HOME OWNERS YOU ARE NOT I BELIEVE THAT YOU ARE THERE TO PROTECT THE INSTALLERS .

I HAVE ALREADY INFORMED YOU THE DATE WAS A MISTAKE. I WAS VERY UPSET ASTRESSED AMD ANGRY AT YOUR RESPONSE . YOU DOGE SOME EMAILS ANSWER OTHER ONES REFUSE TO SPEAK OVER THE PHONE THERE IS A PROCEDURE TO CLAIM ON THE 25 YEAR WARRENTY WICH IS HIDDEN ON YOUR SITE. AND NOW
YOU ARE USING YOUR LEAGAL TEAM, KNOWLEDGE KNOWLEDGE AND THE LACK OF MY KNOWLEDGE. COMPUTER IT EXPERTS TO BULLY ME AND DODGE OUT OF YOUR RESPONSIBILITY YOU ARE USING EVERY EXCUSSE YOU CAN AND NOW HAVE CLUNG ONTO MY MISTAKE TO GET OUT THE 25 YEAR GUARANTEE.


THE CAVITY WALL INSULATION WAS NEVER REMOVED OR RE INSTALLED . I MIXED THE DATE UP DUE TO TRAGIC CIRCUMSTANCES IN MY LIFE WHICH HAS RESULTED AMONG OTHER THINGS THE LOSS OF MANY YEARS OF MY LIFE . I DO NOT WISH TO AIR THESE IN PUBLIC
BUT IF YOU BELIEVE ME TO BE A LIER TAKE ME TO COURT.

SO EITHER EXEPT MY MISTAKE OR TAKE ME TO COURT .

To
CIGA Did i make a mistake with the date or Are you calling me a Liar

to Ciga

I HAVE ALREADY SAID I MADE A MISTAKE IN MY EMAIL SO SHOW WHAT EVIDENCE YOU HAVE.

CIGA provided clear advice from the outset. An initial assessment was arranged quickly and following this CIGA provided a contractor to remove the insulation that had been installed incorrectly. The contractor Sweeney Insulations were fantastic and I would definitely use them again if we decided to re insulate. The whole experience was very straightforward, which was a relief as I was expecting the worse.

Don’t waste your time with this cowboy company, they don’t honour anything in their guarantees. They blame everything on the homeowner and give you generic emails and reports that falsified. They don’t even hold the original inspection before the property is insulated with their horrendous materials. All the good reviews are no doubt paid to put then on this trust pilot account. This stuff has caused thousands of damage to my property and I will be taking his further with court proceedings. I was even told by their worker they silicone air bricks in because they aren’t apparently needed any longer once the cavity wall insulation is installed which is highly incorrect. They also take many days to reply to emails. I have wasted materials to have the walls of my property fixed because they first ignore your initial emails requesting for an inspection to be taken place.

Copy and paste responses and not honouring their commitment to the clients. One star is far too generous for these people. Lying and deceiving the client and wasting public money. When is the government going to do something about it?!

For more information read the parliament entry which you will be able to find online. It's not just us, we are talking about hundred of thousands of households in the UK.

They forward you to the 'arbitrary service' which we would have to pay for instead of honouring their agreement. What a scam!!

Contacted CIGA about very cold rooms in our detached home which we bought with existing cavity wall insulation with their guarantee.
They refused to send anyone to check.

Contacted CIGA as I have a problem with cavity wall insulation and the guarantee is covered by them as the company who installed it the MARK GROUP went into administration some years ago. They sent out a surveyor so I thought well that's good, until they sent out their report!! They will not cover the guarantee as they state the cavity wall insulation has broken down and should be removed and caused by poor maintenance of my property. My property is approx 30 years old in excellent condition and looked after. Apparently this is standard for CIGA to pass the responsibility back to the customer, and reading some reviews and history on the company this certainly seems the case. I have also sought independent advice but despite this CIGA still will not cover the guarantee and despite other expert opinions CIGA still know best!! So now I have damp on internal walls, paid £150 to have a GOVERNMENT BACKED scheme installed through EON and now will be facing a bill of thousands to get it removed!! I would'nt have even given 1 star but you have to put something!!

After receiving a response to the above review, CIGA responded by asking for details to look into the problem. Well, that was a waste of time they have responded by email and still maintain that due to my property being poorly maintained they will not cover the guarantee. I guess that their initial response to my review gave the impression they are interested and a honourable company. Absolutely shocking company, the guarantee is not worth the paper it's written on!!!!

This company are always blaming the house owner for the problems with failed cavity insulation, inspections was fine then the blame started stating the water must have got in due to lack of matainence of the out side brick work CIGA will always pass the buck the guarantee is about as much use as a piece of toilet paper what is the point of a guarantee it’s useless.

We had damp problems in our house caused by poor installation of fibre insulation. We had 3 companies come and look at it in total and all 3 said we should contact CIGA. So we contacted you and you sent a surveyor out to look at the property. He had a quick look outside drilled couple holes and that was it didn’t want to come inside and have a look at where the problems were. And in his report stated that it was due to poor up keep. Even tho 3 superstructure firms who looked at it didn’t agree and after getting nowhere with CIGA we paid a company ourselves to remove the insulation which you could squeeze and the water was dripping off of it.

Very poor service and don’t seem to reply to emails unless you ring them and then they just tell you to wait for a reply. They have told me that they will not send anyone out to inspect my property as they are claiming it down to the Maintenance of the home owner but I have been told by multiple organisations that the risk factors have been down to poorly installed insulation causing the bricks to spall and caused thousands of pounds worth of damage but this shambles of a company are refusing to honour the guarantee. The cavities was not big enough for the blown in wool (rock wool) in the first place and has debris in the cavities also. I will be pursing this further to handle the matter. It has caused the pointing to blow in places and I am being told by just looking at a photo that is gradually spalling which is not the case. It is the property to have this retrofitted insulation. I would have been fine having the insulation extracted and having the brickwork rectified myself but you wouldn’t even honour that. Update: I have already emailed the concerns@ciga and they do not wish to assist me with my issues and don’t reply back. Update:There is no point in giving you my details because you send generic emails out detailing that it’s down to the responsibility of the home owner to maintain the property… you cannot maintain insulation and this property was sound and standing proud before this stuff was in the walls and has been seen by surveyors who have also stated that it is infact the CIW that failed.

CIGA really helped us out of hole when nobody else would even listen! Our installer went bust (as they all did when Govmnt funding stopped), our pine end walls were soaking wet with 4 rooms effected internally. Our insurance cover was completely useless. However, insulation removed within a few months of contact with CIGA. We would have had years more trouble or a hefty bill without their intervention. Many 😊

Contacted Ciga for the first time a few years ago to complain about dampness appearing in my house after having agreed to the Cavity wall Insolation scheme that was on offer at the turn of the century, they in turn contacted the firm involved, who decided to send out another company to extract & re-fill the walls, this to my horror and dismay turned out to be an even worse job, I then contacted Ciga again about two months ago to make my second complaint, they sent out a company to survey and compile a report, and within a few weeks they had organised an other Company to come and extract all the Insulation from my house which was what I had asked for. Their understanding, professionalism and speed in handling both my complaints helped take away all the stress that I felt was building up inside me.

Absolutely shocking company. Damp patches and mould appeared last winter throughout our house including in my 8 year olds bedroom. We found the guarantee and contacted Ciga in January and at first, were very helpful. They arranged for a surveyor to visit the property in February to assess the situation and compile a report.
Since then, we’ve heard nothing, despite several emails, each time I get a response promising that they are treating it as a priority and they will get back. Four months later and we’re still non the wiser. The house was only redecorated a couple of years ago and needs to be done again because of this. Obviously, we cannot do this until the overall issue has been resolved.
I’ve tried to find who the ombudsman is but they don’t appear to have one so my next option will be to contact my MP.

In January 2012 CIGA happily took the money for the guarantee on our house. Since then a few people have lived in the house with the false comfort of thinking they had good cavity wall insulation. However this is not the case and the winters have been incredibly cold. Two elderly owners lived in the property before since 2012 and would have struggled with the cold and I now live in the house with my wife and two babies under the age of 3. Three sets of owners have brought the house under the false pretences there is good cavity wall insulation however there is no insulation at all.

Your company should not have provided a guarantee (in error or not) for any reason if you were not completely satisfied with the cavity wall insulation (particularly if there is evidence there isn't anyway!). You have not only provided a valid guarantee for the house but it comes with a signed and stamp cover letter stating to contact you if we experience any issues with our insulation to contact you. You say our walls are not suitable for retrospective cavity wall insulation, however 1. Why have you provided a guarantee and taken a previous owners money for this if there is zero cavity wall insulation? 2. Your inspector who came to visit did not mention our walls are not suitable for cavity wall insulation and actually said completely the opposite - it is interesting how this has now been mentioned in your email below! 3. I have now had two respected cavity wall insulation companies come and do their own inspection and investigation - they both confirmed that there is absolutely no reason why retrospective insulation cannot be installed. One of the companies worked with Ciga up until a few months ago and now say they refuse to work with you as your guarantees are not worth the paper they are written on - apparently the list of unsettled/unhappy customers is long. A couple of other companies also said something similar. The companies that have quoted have both provided quotes in the region of £6.5k for the works. This is obviously does not begin to cover 11 years of heating bills for three owners with no wall insulation and putting up with freezing cold winters.

Not even worth 1 star , the man who came to look was incompetent and thinks he knows everything loves his job finding any points he can to get out of redoing the work when he knows nothing, will see you in court ciga as you have already admitted to the cavity been done wrong with the first inspector we have that in writing

In 2009 we had cavity wall insulation installed. Initially we noticed a big improvement with heat retention, the house was comfortable throughout. However, with the recent cold snap pre December the Bathroom, Kitchen and small bedroom were freezing cold, while the rest of the house was warm.

The Bathroom, Kitchen and small bedroom are all on the same wall, a West facing wall, and all had a temperature of 12C. I contacted the company that installed the insulation and asked could it be possible that the material used in the cavity wall had failed, or shifted leaving open spaces ? They immediately dismissed my enquiry stating - in the time frame you mention it would not have failed. Then they sent me a photo of the front of my property saying - You have a lot of glass, and plastic cladding, that is the problem.

This statement is incorrect. I have had new windows and doors fitted, and behind the cladding is packed with glaswol.

As I have a 25 year Guarantee I decided to reach out to CIGA. I explained the problem, and the answer from the installers, but their reply was not what I expected. CIGA wanted details of my property from the Land registry. They also wanted details of my mortgage, and a utility bill. In another email they asked for - Photographic evidence of damage. I purchased a digital infra-red temperature gun and recorded the inside wall temperature. The Temp was 12 - 13 C and the living area was 21C. To me this suggests a lot of heat is escaping through the wall (or a lot of cold coming in).

I decided not to provide CIGA with the requested documents as I consider these to be private and confidential. I find it bizarre that a company that provides a guarantee needs to have this information from the owner.

I then received an email informing me - We cannot proceed without these documents. So we are at a status quo. I won't send the documents, and CIGA won't act until I do. I am interested to know what they would do if I did send them those documents ?

I might as well rip the 25 year Guarantee certificate up as it is no use to me. Ciga is not prepared to compromise. However, if they were to send an inspector, I would gladly show them all the documents on site, but I will not send them to be stored or transmitted elsewhere.

I also wonder if Ciga would contact the installer and take THEIR opinion on the matter above mine ?

My wife and I are both pensioners in our 70's We don't need such problems, but we did think we were covered with a solid guarantee... apparently not.

Part 1 Thus far CIGA have been professional and prompt in replying and providing the service or reviewing my cavity wall insulation. Insulation installed in 2011 by previous owners. On purchase house seemed overly cold had a private survey carried out which showed poorly installed insulation with huge caps where no insulation had been installed. Contacted CIGA who asked for various bits of documentation ie copy of deeds just to provide proof of ownership etc totally reasonable. Then sent a cavity wall inspector to carry out their review of the cavity wall. In agreement with first inspection that the insulation had been put in badly. They have agreed now to arrange a company to come and remove the cavity wall insulation at which point a further inspection will be done to check suitability to re-do the cavity wall insulation.
So thus far I am totally happy with the responce and service received. Hopefully that will be the case all the way through the process (I will update as we go)
A Tomkins - NG250DA

Part 2 - 18/03/2023 cavity wall removed via CIGA contractors. No complaints seemed a job well done thus far. Now awaiting CIGA response for next actions.

to everyone here who as had dealings with ciga to me it is a huge scam there pulling to get information from you to pass on to other people. they told me they have certificates to do with my property and i need to provide them with lots of documents to prove i am the owner. my property was built in the early 60s and i have owned it for the last 4 years before that it was owned by a elderly lady from when it was built to 1989 from 1989 to 2018 aug it was owned by my late parents. the only insulation that was ever put in this property was when the people built it. so how can ciga have any certifates to do with this property as this company was only started in 1995 and this property was built in the 60s. to ciga i no you dont install insulation how ever your a bunch of liers no one has ever signed anything with you in 33 years its a scam to get money from me. so anything you claim to have is null and void as over 25 years old and outdated plus i have read what other people have wrote about you. my advice is to everyone if this company claims to have certificates check when you property was built and then look when this company started its business up and if your property is older than this company they could not have certificates and you are being scamed just a big bunch of liars.

Raised a concern in 2018, sent photos of the problem and was told it was DPC failure. I got the impression they just couldn't be bothered.

I tried again 4 years later, and as the photographs were far worse by then. We'd removed render and a breezeblock to access the cavity ourselves to confirm the problem. It was like wringing a sponge full of water. We sent photos again.

This time, the inspector came out who was a lovely lady, who did a thorough job.

There was clearly bridging due to cavity wall insulation and or rubble. I signed papers sent to me a month later to agree to have the stuff removed.

The company who removed the insulation were great, did a professional job and cleaned up after themselves.

Our house is now dry and free of black mould. We have never been this comfortable in our home in 4 years and we can finally decorate. Thank you all.