Cavity wall insulation is one of the most popular energy saving solutions available since it is relatively cheap to do but the resulting savings are pretty substantial. It is currently getting a lot of bad press here with installers not installing it correctly and also some installations leading to damp, so we thought we would allow Gerry Miller – CEO of CIGA (the agency that guarantee cavity wall insulation installs) to share his thoughts!
Gerry Miller – CEO of CIGA on its role
When the Cavity Insulation Guarantee Agency (CIGA) was established in 1995, it was part of a wider move by the industry and Government to encourage households to embrace energy saving measures.
There was recognition that whilst studies indicated that the incidence of problems was rare, it was important that consumers who choose cavity wall insulation for their homes should be properly protected and feel confident in the product. CIGA was created to achieve that goal.
CIGA – 6m guarantees and counting!
Since then, CIGA has issued close to 6 million guarantees – on average around 850 per day over 20 years. That means approaching 1 in 4 homes in the UK have a CIGA Guarantee.
The result is that the UK has more homes with cavity insulation than ever before. Millions of households across the country are benefitting from the lower energy bills, warmer homes and smaller carbon footprints.
For the vast majority, more than 99%, of consumers who have cavity insulation fitted, it works well and improves their quality of life. It is an unseen and often un-thought of helping hand with rising bills.
But although that illustrates an incredibly low failure rate of cavity insulation – with only two in a thousand installations resulting in a problem being reported to CIGA since the Scheme started – we recognise that, as with any building works, occasionally there are problems.
And we recognise that when it is something as important and personal as someone’s home it is vitally important that problems are dealt with properly, effectively and fairly. We know how distressing it can be for a household to feel they are not getting the help they need.
I am confident that the vast majority of the time CIGA has lived up to that responsibility and provided a robust safety net for consumers.
CIGA – working hard to improve
However, we also recognise that in a small number of cases we have fallen short of our own high standards.
So we’ve listened to the feedback we received and have committed to real change and improvement. We know that anything short of exceptional service for every consumer who claims against their guarantee is not good enough.
To the small number who may feel that they have been let down in the past we can only apologise; to those who will come to CIGA in the future though, we promise better service and greater accountability for the industry.
We have spent considerable time and effort creating a wide-ranging plan of action to strengthen our policies and procedures, and put in place measures that will make a real difference.
First, we announced our search for an independent Consumer Champion. This is a role we have created to sit on CIGA’s governing council, to represent consumers’ interests, to hold the organisation and industry to account, and ensure consumers are at the forefront of what we do.
We designed the role to have real teeth. We’re not interested in a token gesture – improving how we do things is in CIGA’s interest as well as consumers’. We spoke to Government departments, consumer groups and consumers themselves to get their input on how to achieve that.
The message we received loud and clear is that the Consumer Champion needs real power and real resources to make a real difference. So that’s exactly what we gave them: the power to demand explanations from senior figures in the industry where consumers are experiencing delays; the power to initiate mediation processes where they think necessary; the power to recommend disciplinary action against installers who are falling short.
At the time of writing, we are still in the process of finalising an appointment. The number and standard of applications was exceptional and I have no doubt that the individual we hire will bring the experience and vigour necessary to make a real difference for consumers.
But we know that that on its own isn’t enough. We need to do more ourselves as an organisation to improve how we do things for consumers. With that in mind, last week we announced the Call Back Pledge.
This is a straightforward promise from us to guarantee holders: if you make a claim and we ask the installer to investigate and resolve any defects, we’ll get back in touch after two months to make sure progress has been made. If you’re not happy then we’ll step in ourselves investigate – and where appropriate initiate disciplinary proceedings.
This will have the immediate effect of adding another safety net for those consumers whose claims are dealt with by installers – a large proportion since the installer is always the first port of call. Of the roughly 12,000 claims CIGA has ever received, 74% were resolved by installers and 26% by CIGA directly.
We have more improvements to make. We’re committed to improving transparency, so our first Annual Report will be published in the coming months and will make public statistics on industry performance, CIGA’s customer service and our financial position. We’re also bolstering our frontline response and dedicating more lines and resources to ensuring they continue to deliver a high level of service – since Christmas, CIGA responders have answered 99.9% of calls with an average ring time of just six seconds.
Despite the number of homes which already have cavity wall insulation keeping them warm, the UK still has some of the most poorly insulated housing stock in the whole of Europe, with 2.3 million suffering in fuel poverty. Energy prices will always rise and fall; energy efficiency improvements are the only way to end fuel poverty once and for all.
With that in mind, we are absolutely committed to ensuring that we create an environment where consumers feel confident choosing cavity wall insulation. I passionately believe that the current set of changes we are implementing will help us to provide an even better service to those that matter most: consumers.
Gerry Miller, CEO, CIGA
If you would like to read more about cavity wall insulation, see our full guide here.
If you have a house in the SW of England and it gets lashed with rain ,DO NOT GET CAVITY WALL INSULATION. My house is ruined . Its a 1950’s ex council house in Plymouth , I have been fighting to get my house fixed back the way it was for over a year now and still CIGA are trying to wriggle out of it. Do not get lured in YOU will regret it.
False promises , stinging you along and home life affected beyond belief.
ciga came out to me, i said there was no survey done prior to the installation of cavity wall insulation , my house is now wet through – they said i cannot prove that it was damp when they put the insulation in 2006. No survey was ever done to my house – in retrospect i would have known it wasnt a bright idea to put insulation into a damp house – but the installers didnt care did they. No they just pump your house full and get the money – My house is now ruined . CIGA just say , you cannot prove it . I cannot see the point of CIGA , they just say – nope you cannot prove on that date that the house was damp . So what’s the point of them existing , surely no one can prove on a certain date years ago that t heir house was damp and should never have been insulated.
We are still receiving complaints that you are fobbing people off. Consequential damages should also be paid for.
Put simply, CIGA hired a publicity machine and that is self evident in the statement provided by their CEO, Gerry Miller. If CIGA were in the process of effecting real change to their organisation, I would not still be receiving heartfelt emails from people who have all but given up hope of being heard, dealt with properly, effectively and fairly by CIGA. Complaints continue that CIGA has ignored them, not returned calls, their inspector John Campbell has been unbelievably rude to them (sadly a recurring theme), and so it goes on ad nauseum, If CIGA does carry out an extraction of the CWI, it will be through one of their preferred contractors, usually a firm that has shared Directorships with CIGA, while any consequential damages which may run into many thousands of pounds, are heavily contested. Currently I know of a couple who have been seeking redress to their ruined home for 8 long years. In fact it is not uncommon for people to have been battling away to obtain redress for several years, in cases where it is patently obvious that the CWI has been defectively installed and been causal to damp, condensation, mould and mildew. The considerable distress caused and damage to health, ie asthma, cannot be overstated.
Gerry Miller CIGA – 72 days to reply to a compliant after CIGA said CWI was installed correctly which turned out to be false in an independent report. Do they protect the customer or installer I wonder.
It is important to differentiate between failed installations and defective installations. A defective installation may not become a recognisable failure until long after the guarantee has run out.
Householders should ask for a free defects check from CIGA – think about it as an MOT for your home and walls.
why answer the phone so quick when you cant speak to anyone anyway ? Customer service does NOT exist the insulation has ruined my property water running down inside walls damp damp condensation, mould and mildew. i suffer with asthma, which is now much worse 3 little children in property and you cant speak to anyone and judging on all the complaints wont get anything done about it either ? DO NOT GET CAVITY WALL INSULATION BY THIS COMPANY
Contacted Ciga three weeks ago re insulation/damp problem. Informed that as it had been installed in 1997 and no defects reported since “it cannot be the fault of the insulation”. Independent builder removed bricks, found damp insulation/big gaps in between insulation. Informed Ciga and told details passed to Technical team. No callback from team. Rang and told “very busy team”. Looking at earlier reports/letters/e mails etc it appears that Ciga is not what it reports itself to be. Still awaiting callback from Technical team.
IS CIGA WORKING HARD TO IMPROVE? I have not had any response from customer service manager Ola Taiwo to emails or phone calls regarding incorrectly/patchy installed cavity wall insulation despite months of trying to get a resolution. I would like Ciga to respond and provide a solution. We are now seven months on from the complaint notification and there is still no resolution nor even reply.
What a load of RUBBISH!! Wish I’d never let you guys near our house!! Its cost us so much money over the years replacing mouldy and damp items in our house mattresses, curtains,clothes,wardrobes etc not to mention the chemicals I use on the walls to try to get rid of the black mould!! After plenty of ignored phone calls and shocking customer service we had the lovely John Campbell (NOT patronising arrogant bleep!!) Come out to see us saw the mess and out of gesture of good will paid for an extractor fan to be put in the bathroom. Apparently we didnt have adequate ventilation. Yet I have a document in front of me that’s ticked to say our family home did. The same family home we now can not sell or enjoy living in because of your money grabbing botched up work which we’ve had assessed ourselves where do I start! Cold spots, rubble debris, total botched job. Its 2018 now we have tried to pursue it further but then because there was a gap since our last pursuit we can’t take it further unless we can pay to ourselves and that’s how you get away with it. I’ll tell you what the gap was for CIGA our 11year old daughter was diagnosed with thyroid cancer rare for her age. Could it have been the black mould all around her that caused this?? At the time I had no energy to fight you over your criminal negligence to our home and many other families homes now I have I hope your ready for me!