The short answer is 'none of signficance' The long answer: When a home owner makes a claim (or a 'concern') against their CIGA guarantee. It may result in a site inspection by one of CIGA's technical inspectors. The report they produce is the basis of CIGA's decision fix the problem or not. Many home owners suffering from damp are quite shocked to find that their report blames the home owner for 'occupancy issues' causing damp or most commonly 'lack of maintenance'. This report is really important as it forms the basis of CIGA's submission to the Alternative Dispute Process and elements of the install that are not investigated as part of the report or are left out will have no meaningful discussion at ADR. ADR doesn't lead to an independent inspection of the property. For a home owner to stand any chance at ADR they must commission an surveyor to produce their own report at great expense. Now it's possible that when CIGA insp...

My CIGA 25 year guarantee does not have a 'maintenance clause' .  Yet the CIGA inspector quoted the clause as a condition of the the guarantee. This clearly is nonsense so I raised the issue with CIGA and was given the following response From viewing the original guarantee issued to this property it is confirmed that clause 3 was not inserted and has been introduced subsequently. It must be noted however that there has been independent confirmation by arbitration providers that it is an inherent responsibility for the homeowner to maintain their property is in a good state of repair especially if there is. [Note The sentence looks incomplete because this is from CIGA who can't string words together coherently] This always bothered me because ADR outcomes are meant to be confidential There is absolutely no notion of legal precedence with ADR outcomes.  Each arbitration is based on the information provided by CIGA and the claimant and not with reference to an...

Under CEO Nigel Donohue. CIGA have failed to publish quarterly stats since Q2 2018. Publishing quarterly stats was a key commitment to 'openness and transparency' as a result of the consumer champion review and specifically mentioned in the Bonfield Review "Each Home Counts" This is a retrograde step compared to the efforts of the previous CEO. If CIGA Can't get basic and highlight visible commitments like this right then where else is it failing consumers? --- Update : Very shortly after I had posted this blog entry on Twitter. A rushed Q3 2018 report complete with copy and paste errors from previous report appeared on CIGAs website, followed in the the next week by Q4 and finally Q1 2019. CIGA's wording has all been about 'normal weather'.  This organisation is a joke but it's good to know that an individual blogger can help hold an company to account where government organisations do not.

In a talk to PCA April 2017. Nigel Donohue CEO of CIGA says industry “Presented positive information to the Welsh Government following BRE report into cavity and solid wall insulation”. I have just re-read the  Post Installation Performance of Cavity Wall Insulation- BRE Wales . CIVALLI has a good summary on their web page. The thing that struck me was that so many of the properties where completely unsuitable and this was easily demonstrated by competent surveyors as opposed to unqualified inspectors from the guarantee agencies. The following sentence shows what consumers are up against with companies like CIGA: Not a single claim was successful despite almost all the properties showing violations of BBA certificates and CIGA's own guidelines with  clear evidence of poor workmanship and/or materials which the guarantees explicitly cover. When CIGA inspects properties, it is not in their interest at all to actually do a proper survey. If they went looking for v...

There is no regulator of CWI; Ofgem (the energy regulator) does not regulate the cavity wall installation industry. Ofgem has no oversight of the contractual arrangements between the energy companies and those organisations that install energy efficiency measures on their behalf. There is no ombudsman or independent redress scheme. Local building control considers CWI a 3rd party issue. Energy Saving Trust despite being listed as partners on millions of certificate have distanced themselves from the guarantee. BBA don't think they have any responsibility for a product they have certified  'should last the life time of the building' when the manufacturer has gone bust. The most prolific guarantee agency  CIGA can describe themselves as independent when they are in fact the industry  and use unqualified 'inspectors' who are not formally accredited in damp and timber.  Mis-sold, Misrepresented? However, for many home owners all of the above is something th...