CIGA Cavity Insulation Guarantee Agency Reviews 143

I would prefer to leave a 0 but cant. CIGA guarantees are not worth the paper they are written on. Miller Pattison installed CWI into my property, after a few years the walls of my property became wet, mouldy, damp smelling, bedroom worst affected.My health has deteriorated. I rang and complained in Jan 2021 to get an inspection. 6 months later CIGA sent a company called Novora, when the guy arrived I asked questions of what was wrong, I also videoed and took pics of our conversation. 4 weeks later I phoned to ask where the report was. Katie said they were behind, eventually the got back and agreed to remove the insulation which was wet. Weeks passed with no contact I rang Novora who is the phoenixed company responsible for Miller Pattisons work. The reason for this is Cavity Wall Insulation who offer a 25 year guarantee for their installers work are quite willing to take new businesses which previously operated under a different name and have gone into administration back on to their guarantee scheme. Provided the new company with the previous Directors agrees to do remedial works. If you look at Companies House webcheck you can see all company details and names of Directors and previous companies they have been involved with. Google Phoenixing meaning its very interesting, and whats been known for years.. Its time the government stopped this.

We had cavity wall insulation installed in our home through the Government incentive scheme in 2009.

In 2018 after finding out that the dampness in our home was due to the cavity wall insulation, we contacted Millar Pattison who installed the insulation, who inspected the property, agreed the cavity wall insulation was at fault and removed it

We thought it had been removed completely

The CIGA guarantee states to resolve the matter directly with the installer which is what we did

It has now transpired that not all the insulation was removed and we now have damp again

Millar Pattison are now out of business but CIGA put us in touch with Novora who have now inspected the property, agreed that not all the insulation was removed and is causing the issue. They are removing this remaining insulation on 29th October

The Damp Specialist report advises removing the damaged plaster in our home along the front of the property and having this redone. Most of it has blown and is falling off and is damp to the touch

Novora wont take responsibility for this as they didn’t do the initial instal

CIGA say our guarantee is invalid as we didn’t tell them about the initial issue but their guarantee instructions say only to contact them if the matter wasn’t resolved. At the time we thought it was resolved. They are refusing to honour the guarantee

They have repeatedly ignored my request of an email address to escalate this to or make a formal complaint

Utterly disgraceful just washing their hands of the issue when I have followed the instruction on their guarantee to the letter.

Their guarantee is clearly not worth the paper it is written on

If anyone has just had it removed due to dampness I would highly recommend you get this checked out to ensure its all removed properly or you will be in the same situation we are

Dear Ciga,
Dyson Energy Services came yesterday and they extracted the insulation, made good the pointing. They did a superb, professional job, and were helpful answering our many questions, informativly.
It is a great weight off our shoulders knowing that the gable end of our bungalow has now a free flow of air in its cavity walls so eventually will dry out.
Thank you Ciga for helping us through the whole process and remedying the whole problem in a professional, cutrteous manner.
Best wishes,

Christine and Robert Coleman.

All well that ends well. Long story short. After an inspection on an area of damp, the inspector told us that in one area the gap wasn't big enough to have cavity wall insulation. However, he didn't put this in the report, so consequently our claim was dismissed out of hand.
We took exception to that and whislt agreeing with 90% of the report, our argument was that surely if the gap in this area was too small, insulation should never been sold to the previous owner?
Much too-ing and fro-ing, with a very faceless organisation, they did relent.
The work carried out by their contractors was great, tidy, efficient and very friendly.
Was rather bizarre that the contractors travelled from South Wales and Yorkshire though.
It can't be easy for CEGA due to bogus claims, but please try and be less faceless.

2 bed house with beads insulation fitted for about 4 yrs. Brickwork outside was brick to brick with no cement where a door had been removed and bricked up. Water penetrating through the areas where there had never been cement and it was like this when they put the insulation in. The company went into receivership. Contacted CIGA who sent an inspector along who agreed that water could have been penetrating this area where the problem inside was. He informed me that he would get the insulation removed and also get the inside re plastered. CIGA sent me a letter saying the inspectors report outlined none of it was their responsibility under the guarantee. There was 2 lines or words on the report from the Inspector and also photos of the affected area. I complained and asked for a copy of the report. They said the report is put on the laptop and PDF straight away. I can't see that. Further they said that the conversation about doing the work was denied by the Inspector. I am not going to leave it here. I think someone at the top of CIGA needs to lose their job looking at the feedback. However I do have further evidence about being contacted by the Inspector.

CIGA appointed an external company to remove cavity wall insulation from our house. Unfortunately, they damaged the render whilst drilling a hole too close to the edge of the wall. As a result, the render de-bonded from the brickwork and left quite a large crack. We raised this with the operators whilst onsite, and subsequent phone calls to their manager and the director for complaints and to CIGA. Nonetheless, they all denied any responsibility and simply fobbed us off. Very shoddy experience and the operators seemed more interested in having a good night out on the booze rather than anything else. Unfortunately, CIGA are unfit for purpose and have one of the most absurb approaches to customer colmplaints I've seen. I even asked for their complaints procedure, all in polite correspondance, but they haven't even bothered to reply!

CIGA's decision making regarding claims made warrant deep scrutiny and investigation by an authority to carry out such an investigation.(If there is such a body in place) After reading reviews I initially thought that it was from disgruntled property owners whos claims had been rejected for well-evidenced reasons.
However,no.The what-appeared to be mass produced response letter apart from a few word changes no doubt was received within ONE working day of the inspection at my property,and to say that it contained a lot of supposition is an absolute understatement.
These people represent everything that is bad with insurance policies and should be scrutinised deeply.
Stay away from these counterfeits.

Unfortunately I approached this with goodwill and trust, however I was told that Novora must complete any inspection, despite my contact with them being negative and I was insulted by them I went back to CIGA and stated they were not even listed on their website as accredited. CIGA maintained their position and any web search of Novora and its director would raise concerns to anyone. Mediation was even refused so it seems they would rather have their day in court, disappointing approach from an organisation that self polices and has no obvious obligations. Worthless guarantee.

Terrible shocking Ciga guarantee, not worth the paper it's written on. They sent out a surveyor,who works on the behalf of Ciga he told lies. And Ciga denied my claim like in nearly all cases.I brought in an independent surveyor he showed me on camera the voids and the soaking insulation also pulled sodden insulation. I paid myself to have insulation removed and.never to be installed again.

Awful. We clearly are expected to live without a bathroom and we are disabled. Our builder discovered our issue whilst stripping out and putting in a new bathroom . Of course he needed to try and make good the damp in the bathroom before putting the new one in there and then. I think you are grossly irresponsible expecting us to waste money on extra work whilst you decide what you will snd won’t do. Our external walls have been merrily heating in the summer so there’s no signs of damp externally. Internally the photo showed wet plaster but apparently they showed no signs of damp.

We’ve provided you evidence of failure and you do t even have decency to check things properly.

Your ciga 25 year guarantee is pointless. Fact is we are in a part of the country that shouldn’t have had this. But let’s ignore that ciga.

I’ve just had the insulation inspected today and it’s evident that the insulation isn’t uniformly distributed through the wall. We’ve areas without insulation apparently hence the cold spots snd condensation.

Giggle is they are blaming our builder for significantly disturbing our insulation and apparently it wasn’t wet before??? How the heck does ciga know that? All the way across the wall are empty voids. I’m damned sure the builder didn’t go all over the wall removing patches of insulation deliberately.

Just as an edit, ciga made the decision without an inspection. I had to point out no one had been out. So yes eventually an inspector came out and was actually very good snd very understanding

Don't waste your time with them. They have no intention of honouring the guarantee. We had 3 quotes saying the cavity wall insulation had failed. There was lot's of damp inside the property because of this. Ciga rejected the claim as there was a small part of the house that needed pointing. The person they send round to inspect the property works for the company who makes the insulation. So not independent anyway. Before he'd even inspected it he told me that his insulation never failed. So we had no chance.

I hope you never have to deal with these people as they are horrible. This is what happens when you have an organisation with no governing body overseeing them. They will speak to you how they like, deal with you when they are ready and if they feel like it they may provide a service. They treat everyone like you’re trying to commit cavity wall insulation claim fraud. All I wanted was a copy of my cavity wall insulation guarantee as I was moving house and my buyers solicitors wanted to see it cost me £42 which wasn’t the problem, being spoken to like an idiot and still having to mail it through the post like the 1980s was the problem. Spoken to like an idiot on the phone first then three days to answer an email then five days and counting to recieve your certificate horrible horrible people.

Our home is incredibly cold so we had been discussing with our energy provider about a grant for cavity wall insulation, but were surprised to learn that we already had it. It was installed prior to our purchase and thankfully we were able to dig out the guarantee paperwork as we were sure it must have been installed incorrectly or insufficiently as there has been damp/mould and condensation throughout the property. Evidence of cavity wall injection to the external of the property is also limited. CIGA asked to send pictures to show the damp and condensation before they escalate for investigation. Their response? “open a window”. I am absolutely outraged. Particularly as our daughter has a range of complex health needs and disabilities, including respiratory issues, that this issue is really affecting and which CIGA were made aware of. Surely they have a duty of care to investigate properly rather than rely on mobile phone images and the limited knowledge of home owners? It seems, however, that the guarantee itself is worthless, and reading other reviews, CIGA doesn’t seem to give two hoots as long as they have the monopoly on this market. Absolute crooks.

I will try and keep this simple as possible.

1-Cavity insulation completed on my property in 2017 with a 10 year CIGA garauntee.
2-2020 issues with insulation and inspection by CIGA carried out confirming extraction of wall insulation required which will have to be followed by reinjection under garauntee.
3-November 2020 extraction of cavity walls by CIGA appointed contractors called Dyson and job complete.
4-On enquiring when installation of new insulation under garauntee and by the CIGA inspector, I was told the porperty is not suitable.
5-CIGA inspection reports confirms the porperty is suitable for reinjection but CIGA will not complete this.

The service is horrendous and the garauntee is even worst. If the property was not suitable in the first place then why was it installed with cavity inusulation in the first place? CIGA seems like they don't want to take responsibility of installing new insulation even though this was a requirement in their inspectors report.
Avoid CIGA at all cost, they will make all sorts of excuses not to abide by the garauntee that they write themsleves. Absolutely rediculous to say the least!!

worst thing is everything is done via email so you can't even speak to anyone at CIGA!

i have just had a inspection on my property were the report says an external visual inspection appeared to confirm the installation process to be compliant with system designer specification , how ever ,the inspection also confirmed that the single storey side / rear extension has been omitted from the installation , which is a disabled bathroom for my daughter, which the installers said it had been done , which it hasn’t , which i only found out when new windows were fitted, so it seems they have not done the job , they should of done in the beginning and the ciga guarantee does not cover there mistake so does that make them to same as them the installers , they never said they were omitted that part of the house but ciga tells me they did , but carnot giv me a reason , this should be cover by the guarantee , the only done 3rd of the job , don’t know what to do

Waste of time, we purchased a property in September 2019 with a CIGA guarantee which still has 8 years left on the guarantee. In the February of 2020, we developed wet, damp and green/black patches throughout our living room.

Contacted CIGA who then arranged for the initial installer to inspect, due to covid this visit didn't happen until August.

On inspection the installer conducted a report which we had the chase up the findings of said inspection to learn that they blamed water ingress due age of property and mortar joint cracking so therefore it comprimises the insulation therefore would not be carrying out remedial work.

Firstly, why did they install the insulation & give it a 25 year guarantee if the the property isn't fit for such insulation?

Secondly, rockwool (the type of insulation) is known to freeze in cold temperatures and then thaw causing mortar joint cracking from the inside.

*cold, wet, freezing & windy weather conditions occur regularly during the winter months in the south wales valleys.*

Finally, cavity wall insulation is known to cause issues with properties all over the UK due to faulty installation and it being installed into properties that are not fit for it to be installed into.

If CIGA can fob you off they will because they tuck you up with the wording in the guarantee.

I now have to pay a hefty sum for remedial work and to get the insulation extracted.

CIGA = WASTE OF TIME

They are trying to use some excuse to wriggle out of the guarantee. I do not recommend trusting them

Damp issues at my elderly parent’s flat. Arbitration award ruled to say the CWI had to be removed. This was over 2 years ago. CIGA are not responding to any emails on the matter.

I have been fighting for 4 years now to have something done about my installation. It was carried in 2006 and in 2016 we noticed horrible damp patches appearing and black mould. Even redecorating, replaced windows, home is kept in a great condition, well looked after and maintained. Still black patches keep appearing.

After months of survey inspections, discussions by email, reports produced i am no further forward.

TODAY an engineer turns up to install insulation to 1 sq metre of wall !!! 1 sq m!!!! i couldnt believe it!!!... what about the rest, what about the part i actually hold a guarantee for!!!... im absolutely fuming that nothing has been done. guarantee not worth the paper its written on

I had CWI installed back in 2005. I have recently reported to this company a problem i came regarding my kitchen. I live in a 1960 built bungalow and had the insulation installed following a Government promotion for reducing heat loss and to improve the carbon footprint of the property.
This product has caused an excessive amount of damp to my property and as a result the joists and floorboards had rotten, only found out i had this problem when i notice the washing machine was leaning backward. When this was looked into i found that the machine was not even sitting on anything at the back closet to the wall.
When we had cleared everything out of the kitchen it became clear that the problem was the instulation because the airvents to my property had all been filled in with the insulation.
I contacted CIGA with an explanation and photographs, proof of residency and a copy of the guarantee. Only to be told that because the work to replace the floor has already been carried out they hold no responsiblity whatsoever.
Well of course the work had to be dealt with immediately with having no floor.
I will be taking this matter further. Thank you.