CIGA In partnership with the Energy Saving Trust?


My Cavity Wall Insulation 25 year guarantee has the following on the bottom.

Three logos of equal prominence. 1st Insulation - defunct system designer of glass wool, CIGA and the Energy Saving Trust.

Based on this presence a consumer would reasonably expect the Energy Saving Trust to have quite a big involvement in the guarantee or the running of the 25 year scheme.

"The Energy Saving Trust(EST) is an independent UK-based organisation focused on promoting action that leads to the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions - a key contributor to man-made climate change. They are funded by the UK government, devolved governments and the private sector."

I recently contacted Energy Saving Trust because I assumed they had some sort of responsibility with the Guarantee to see if they could assist with problems with the way CIGA dealt with my concerns.
For me a 'partnership' implies shared responsibility as well as liability.

Here is the response I got back from EST:

We should point out that we are in no way connected to CIGA. We are not sure why our name would ever have appeared on a CIGA certificate, though it is possible they may have provided us a source of general information on insulation and other energy saving measures.  
This is quite remarkable and it is certainly not a one off.

I have checked with several contacts who can confirm the same logo appears on guarantees from 2007-2010 (photos at bottom of blog). Using CIGA's installation figures for this date range alone would imply, at a conservative estimate, that there are at least 1.5 million guarantees currently in home owners hands which have the same branding and is highly suggestive that EST are involved in the 25 year guarantee.

What is going on here?
It's clear from my correspondence that EST, despite heavily promoting CWI over the last 20 years.  want to distance themselves completely from the guarantee and association with CIGA. It seems difficult to believe that  have not picked up that their logo has been been used on millions of guarantees over a decade ago.

If EST did not consent to this then are CIGA using this logo inappropriately or in a misleading way? The logo certainly helps give the certificate an undeserved look of being government endorsed due to the government/BEIS heavy subsidising of EST.

EST are aware of the problems with Cavity wall insulation and their thermographic studies have consistently shown 'degraded' insulation despite the BBA certifying insulation lasts for the life time of the building.
I'd be interest to know how much of their budget is spent on protecting the consumers and investigating poor practice and poor oversight in the industry.

I have highlighted this issue to EST and as a courtesy passed this information on to Nigel Donohue CEO of CIGA. I believe they need to have a conversation.




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