Minister agrees to help residents with ‘rampant mould’ after botched insulation

Some homeowners started to receive bills of tens of thousands of pounds from the installers’ insurers. SSB Law had mounted its case against the installers’ insurers because many of the installers themselves had dissolved.

Mr Ryan told Inside Housing: “I recently met with victims of failed cavity wall insulation and cowboy workmanship who are dealing with the consequences of botched work. Some are now living in horrific conditions, such as rampant damp and mould in their homes, while being slapped with tens of thousands of pounds of legal fees.

“This has caused extreme stress to many of my constituents, so I am pleased that when I raised the issue in parliament, the minister ensured that regulations would be tighter and agreed to meet with myself and the victims.

“I will continue to advocate for the victims in my constituency and work with other MPs so that regulations are tougher in future government backed schemes to ensure this never happens again.”

In parliament on 8 October, Mr Ryan asked Ms Fahnbulleh if she was aware of the residents’ plight and whether she would ensure regulation is strong enough to “make sure this never happens again”.

The minister replied: “We are aware of cases where there are bad insulations. We are absolutely clear that we need to get a firmer grip on those because in order to persuade everyone that we should be insulating all our homes… we need the highest standard, and I will agree to meet with him.”

The Burnley Express had reported that a single mother was “terrified” after being chased for £17,000 in legal fees in a failed claim relating to the insulation, while a 74-year-old grandfather died facing a £7,000 bill.

Roze Khan lives in Burnley with her son, who has asthma and eczema. She told Inside Housing that she is taking antidepressants because she was so worried about receiving a legal bill.

Her husband, who has limited English, signed up to a legal claim after mould and damp began appearing in their house and affected the family’s health. Around 18 months after the insulation was installed, Ms Khan said: “We started seeing blotches of black everywhere, and little brown marks on the walls.”

In 2020, she started getting damp in her room and was diagnosed with asthma. “Every time I slept in that room I woke up with a cough,” she said. Colleagues at work complained about the “damp smell” of her clothes, she added.

The family continues to be affected by the damp and mould. “It’s getting worse and worse each day,” Ms Khan said. “We keep painting over it.”

The family originally put in a claim with another firm, GWS Solicitors, which transferred the case to SSB Law in 2017.

Ms Khan said she has not received a bill for legal costs yet, but fears it is “still going through the system”. 

“I’m so worried of a letter coming through the post, I’ve actually got depression, so I’m taking antidepressants,” she explained.

Two insurers, AXA and RSA, told Inside Housing that they have now paused attempts to recover their costs from the residents. RSA said that it had asked the homeowners to sign over their rights, limited to their cost liabilities, so it can claim against SSB’s insurers in their place.

Another insurer, GIC Europe, declined to comment.

Ms Khan does not know which insurer relates to her case and said she has not been contacted by any insurers to say they have paused pursuing costs.

A spokesperson for AXA said: “Over a number of years, SSB Law and other legal firms have encouraged homeowners to bring claims against cavity wall insulation businesses to court.

“The vast majority of these claims have failed and, where we insure the business, this means the third-party claimant becomes liable for AXA UK’s court-awarded costs. This is despite these legal firms often advising their clients that these claims are made on a no win, no fee basis.

“We sympathise with the situation faced by those individuals who believe they were misled by SSB Law and who are liable for court costs since it went into administration. As a result, we have paused recovery of unpaid costs while SSB Law’s clients seek alternative legal representation.”

A spokesperson for RSA said: “On behalf of their clients, SSB Law litigated a significant number of cases against RSA relating to CWI [cavity wall insulation] installation. Each of those cases failed, meaning the individual bringing the claim became liable to meet our court awarded costs.

“We have not actively pursued payment of our costs since December 2023 and any enforcement action remains suspended.

“All affected individuals have been contacted with a proposal for us to stand in their place and pursue SSB Law’s insurers solely in relation to their costs liability. The Solicitors Regulation Authority has welcomed our considered and measured approach.

“We also continue to receive very positive messages from those who recognise our efforts to provide a mechanism to resolve matters which is at no cost to them and importantly with no recourse against them should we not make a full recovery.  

“We’re extremely mindful of the impact the litigation has had and urge those with costs liabilities to get in touch to discuss their individual circumstances if they feel our proposal hasn’t quite addressed any concerns they have.”

Since 2008, more than three million homes have had cavity wall insulation fitted under government-backed green energy schemes.

In May, the BBC reported that figures compiled by Ofgem suggested insulation in hundreds of thousands of these homes could have failed because it was not installed properly.