Tag: benefits

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Under Attack: Tenants And Homeowners Fight Against Damp, Legal Troubles, and Agency Challenges

In 2015 the Green Deal scheme was launched which gave homeowners the chance to make energy-saving improvements to their homes without having to pay an upfront cost.

In the rush to insulate and without the knowledge to see if their properties were suitable to have insulation, many homes had unsuitable works carried out.

This has resulted in thousands of properties that are now which are now having problems with dampness and mould.

Loft or cavity wall insulation,  can save the home  owner or tenant a lot of money each year. It’s estimated by The Energy Saving Trust that cavity wall insulation costs up to £1,800+ to install, but  can save between £180 and £690 a year on your energy bills, depending on your home. Loft insulation costs up to £890+ and can save between £330 and £590 a year.

So how did it all go wrong? The companies providing the cavity wall insulation either didn’t have the knowledge to install it correctly, or in worst case scenario ignored the installation instructions.

In many cases insulation was put into roof spaces without taking care to provide adequate ventilation which has caused a build up of condensation that can rot timbers.

Adequate care was not given towards inspecting the properties to see if there were any causes of water seepage into homes for example missing slates, broken gutters and inadequate pointing on outdoor walls and chimney breasts.

This results in the cavity wall insulation eventually becoming  completely saturated. This isn’t obvious until it’s too late because the insulation is so absorbent.

Insulation can also get wet if there are gaps in pointing between the bricks or if a gutter leaks for a long time. Bricks absorb water and eventually this saturates the insulation thus leading to damp getting into the house.

This is a perfect environment for mould to grow. The UK is experiencing increasing amounts of rainfall and  things are likely to get far worse in the future.

Removing wet insulation is a specialist task and doesn’t come cheap. A cost of around £3,000+ is common but leaving it isn’t an option because the dampness can be severe and causes mould which goes on to cause health problems if left.

Damp and mouldy homes can and does  put lives at risk and the cost of living crisis is making it much more acute.

Condensation often creates damp as well but this can be dealt with by opening windows  when cooking and after baths and showers because moisture has to be allowed to escape.

So where are the companies that installed the cavity wall insulation and should they be held responsible for this?

In an ideal world yes they should, but the companies involved aren’t trading anymore.

Failure to conduct a thorough property inspection, including a detailed assessment for water ingress points and monitoring for mortar accumulation within wall cavities, could spell disaster for homeowners. Such oversights turn properties into potential ticking time bombs for damp issues.

Thousands of individuals sought recourse through no win, no fee solicitors to address their damp woes. However, a concerning trend has emerged as numerous legal companies have folded, leaving a trail of financially crippled clients. Many find themselves saddled with exorbitant bills after these firms go under, rendering them liable for all accrued legal expenses.

Damp-Stricken Residents Left in Limbo as Green New Deal Firms Vanish

As the battle against cold and damp conditions rages on, many homeowners find themselves trapped in precarious living situations. Seeking legal recourse against Green New Deal companies has become a Sisyphean task, with these entities vanishing into thin air. The inability to hold these defunct companies accountable has left individuals grappling with the harsh reality of inhabiting persistently cold and damp homes.

For homeowners seeking solutions, their sole recourse lies in reaching out to the Cavity Insulation Guarantee Agency (CIGA) for a comprehensive damp inspection. Yet, delving into this avenue may prove more complex than anticipated, given the reservations echoed in the available reviews concerning this agency.

https://ciga.co.uk/guarantee-holders/

For tenants residing in both social housing and private rented properties, initiating any form of action proves to be a seemingly impossible challenge. The inability to request landlords to conduct property inspections coupled with tenants’ inability to pursue this course of action further complicates this situation.

It is crucial to acknowledge that living in a cold, damp dwelling can have extremely serious consequences for certain individuals. Urgent measures must be implemented to safeguard the well-being of these tenants and restore their homes to a habitable state.

Photo by Kat Smith on Pexels.com
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DWP Bank Surveillance plans Halted Amid General Election Announcement

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)’s controversial plans to force banks to monitor the accounts of vulnerable benefit claimants have been temporarily dropped, amid the unexpected call for a general election.

The proposed legislation, a key component of the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill, had already navigated the House of Commons and was nearing final approval in the House of Lords.

While many bills were quickly passed in the final days of the parliamentary term, the bank surveillance clause faced significant opposition in the upper chamber.

Despite it being seen as inevitable the bill failed to secure a final vote before Parliament dissolved.

Protestors quite rightly had raised concerns about the invasive nature of the proposed surveillance, however these plans were halted due to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s decision to call an early general election.

The DWP’s plan have quite rightly been met with fierce criticism and opposition from privacy advocates and civil liberties groups who argued that the surveillance measures would represent a significant intrusion into people’s financial lives.

They also expressed concerns that the scheme would disproportionately impact vulnerable individuals and could lead to wrongful accusations and financial penalties.

While the bill has been shelved for now, it remains a possibility that a new government could revive the legislation in the future. 

Labour, currently leading in the polls, has remained very tight-lipped about their stance on the issue also. Here’s hoping that they will scrap these horrendous plans.

The upcoming election will likely see the debate over the DWP’s surveillance ambitions reignited, with implications for the future of data protection and individual privacy.

Not to forget the dire financial sanctions that could be put upon already vulnerable financially compromised people.

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anti social behaviour,, Army recruiting, Ashton Under lyne, baby, benefit repayments,, benefit sanctions, Black Isle Media, Boris Johnson, Brighthouse, child poverty, confidence, conservative government, Cookery, coronavirus, cost of living, covid 19, Damien Green, Decision maker, dignity pre paid funerals,, disability, DLA, domestic violence, domestic violence,, DPAC, DWP blog,, dwp debt, Elderly, energy poverty,, ESA, eugenics, Family, feminism, Food, Food bank, food poverty, Free, frugal, fuel poverty, funeral plans,, G4S, government, high street retail, Homeless Manchester, Homeless women, homelessness, homelessness,, Housing, hunger, Hygiene Poverty,, Ireland budget 2024, Ireland,, Jeremy Corbyn, Jobcentre, Ken Loach, liz truss, Manchester, Mandatory reconsideration, Money saving tips, New Charter Housing, NHS, NHS dentist, Northern resisters, Payday loan, PIP, PIP claim, poverty, pre paid funeral plans,, pre paid funerals,, prepaid energy, prepaid energy metres, prime minister, public transport, republic Ireland Budget, Republic Ireland budget 2023, republic Ireland Budget 2024, Republic of Ireland,, rishi sunak,, safe hands,, sanctions, Steven Crabb, suicide, targets, Tax credits, television, Television Licence, Television Licence fines, Teresa May, The Big Issue, The Labour Party, The Poor Side Of Life, Theresa May, trade union movement, Uncategorized, Universal credit, wilkos, womens rights, Workfare, Workprogramme, young people

Official DWP Report Reveals Zero Percent Fraud Rate


The Department of WORK AND `PENSIONS (DWP) has determined that the level of fraud linked to PIP is minuscule, recorded at an unprecedented 0% in the 2024 fraud and error in the benefits system report.

The findings of the 2024 report indicated that the fraud rate across various benefits for the year concluding in April 2024 were as follows:

Universal credit (UC) 10.9%
Pension credit (PC) 3.9%
Housing benefit (HB) 3.9%
Personal independence payment (PIP) 0%
The report additionally examined instances of overpayments not caused by fraud.

In the case of PIP, most overpayments seemed from claimant errors, particularly when claimants neglected to report an improvement in their functional requirements.
Nevertheless, this has shown a decrease over the previous year, declining from 0.9% in 2023 to a minimal 0.3% in 2024.

The proportion of PIP overpayments attributable to administrative mistakes by the DWP stood at a minimal of 0.1%.

Overall the overpayment rate for PIP, encompassing all factors including fraud, stood at merely 0.4%.


For UC (Universal Credit) it stood at 12.9% which is 32 times higher than for PIP.

For PC (Pension Credit) it was reported at 9.7%

And for HB (Housing Benefit) it stood at 6.3%.

Despite being the benefit least susceptible to fraud and to error by a significant margin, the right-wing press will still persist in claiming that there’s an epidemic of false PIP claims.

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