{"id":70854,"date":"2022-11-21T00:31:04","date_gmt":"2022-11-21T00:31:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/11\/21\/warning-over-cowboy-foam-insulation-firms\/"},"modified":"2022-11-21T00:31:04","modified_gmt":"2022-11-21T00:31:04","slug":"warning-over-cowboy-foam-insulation-firms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2022\/11\/21\/warning-over-cowboy-foam-insulation-firms\/","title":{"rendered":"Warning over ‘cowboy’ foam insulation firms"},"content":{"rendered":"
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People are putting their homes at risk by using fraudulent companies offering spray foam insulation, according to one of the UK’s largest mortgage providers.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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According to the Nationwide Building Society, it can cause thousands of pounds worth of damage if installed incorrectly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The lender expects requests for spray foam to “skyrocket” as more people seek to better insulate their homes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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It advises people to make sure they only use reputable companies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Sandra Burton, from Nottingham, says she was attacked by a ‘cowboy’ company spraying insulating foam into her roof – causing problems that have cost \u00a34,500 to fix.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“I thought I was doing the right thing. The cost of living is going up, energy prices are going up, and I was like, ‘Yeah, I’ll do that,'” she says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cTerrible, absolutely terrible. They obviously prey on the elderly. It’s just awful.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cMy husband is retired and a very poor man, he has Alzheimer’s. I just got my pension, so yeah, it was tough,” she says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Up in Sandra’s attic it looked like “a bomb had gone off” with foam “absolutely everywhere,” says her daughter Jo.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt was all over the wood, all over the water tank. It was in the water tank, all over the electrical \u2014 everything was just covered in foam,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Damage to Sandra’s water tank meant there was a flood in the attic that seeped into her bedroom and caused the ceiling to collapse.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Spray foam insulation has been around for years but Nationwide, the UK’s second largest mortgage provider, says it’s now seeing a big increase in inquiries about it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“With the cost of living crisis, with people worried about climate change…this is a time when people are vulnerable to stepping out of these products,” says Rob Stevens, who serves as Nationwide’s head of real estate risk Leading a team that goes missing hundreds of homes every day.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“We want to make sure people know the right way and are able to insulate their homes in a safe way, which saves them money,” he says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Some people have reported problems when trying to sell a property, get a mortgage, or free up equity from a property with foam insulation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Part of the problem is that there is currently no easy way for consumers to tell the difference between legitimate companies and rogue operators.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Simon Storer of the Insulation Manufacturers Association (IMA) says they are working on a new guide for consumers and industry, due out in the spring.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWe are aware of the issues raised,\u201d he says. “As such, we are working with insurers, mortgage lenders, appraisers and others in this sector to create a protocol that should give them peace of mind that if the installation has been done professionally and correctly, they can mortgage on these properties,” he says .<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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But even when spray foam is installed correctly by a reputable company, problems can arise, as Surrey’s Yasemin Rowland found when trying to sell her house.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Her buyers’ lender withdrew her offer for a mortgage in principle after learning about the spray foam in her attic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“We were really shocked when we saw that [spray foam] The attic insulation was an issue as we had spent so much time and energy researching which option was the right, best and most energy efficient option. We were stunned,\u201d says Yasemin.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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IMA’s Simon Storer says it’s not true that a property with spray insulation can’t be mortgaged at all, but there are problems with its reputation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cHaving a blanket response to spray foam applications is absolutely unhelpful. What this does is\u2026 spread fear and doubt and pave the way for unscrupulous operators to remove all removal apps when obviously not necessary,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors says that while it doesn’t call for a total ban on spray foam, it does advise homeowners to consult an independent expert to check if it’s suitable for their home.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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There are also much cheaper alternatives such as B. the more traditional insulation roll, which can be found at most hardware stores for a few hundred dollars.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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As for Sandra, she’s just glad her spray foam is almost gone:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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“I’m absolutely over the moon because it’s all cleared up now, because I have peace that I didn’t have before.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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You can hear more of this story on BBC Radio 4’s Money Box podcast by clicking on it <\/i>here.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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consequences <\/i>money box<\/a> and <\/i>Dan<\/a> on twitter<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n