The Spray Foam Insulation Scandal
Spray foam insulation is commonly used to insulate homes and, particularly, loft or attic space. If installed correctly, professionally and as per the manufacturer’s guidance, the product can be a good form of insulation and not cause home owners any issues. However, in thousands of cases, spray foam insulation has been installed poorly and negligently.
This has caused most mortgage lenders to either refuse to lend against properties with spray foam insulation installed or implement strict rules and requirements before they will lend against them.
Your rights
MJV Solicitors may be able to assist you in bringing a claim for damages where spray foam insulation has been negligently installed at your home. Subject to your claim meeting our requirements, we may be able to assist you on a no win no fee basis. We will explain the criteria for claims we can assist with within the ‘claims’ section of this article.
Survey
Before spray foam insulation is installed, it is normally within the manufacturer’s guidance, and, if not, it is certainly good practice, for the installer to send a suitably qualified and experienced person to undertake a survey of the property.
Spray foam insulation installed in a loft or attic space usually bonds itself to the inside of the roof and so, for proper insulation to be given and to ensure that the spray foam insulation does not damage your roof, the survey should include the attic and roof space and also the roof.
A professional installation of spray foam insulation would always undertake a roof survey and recommend that any repairs to the roof were done before the insulation was installed. If you have spray foam insulation installed at your home and the installer did not carry out a roof and a thorough attic or loft inspection, this suggests they may not have installed the spray foam insulation professionally.
Many clients we speak to either received a cold call or had someone knock at their door selling spray foam insulation. They often spoke to a sales representative and agreed to the installation of spray foam insulation and the next contact they had was when it was installed. The installer having a quick look around will not normally be an adequate survey and we would expect a professional installer of spray foam insulation to provide you with a copy of their inspection report before the installation took place. We would also expect this to include a survey of the roof.
If you are not aware that such an inspection took place and were not provided with a survey, it does not necessarily prove that the spray foam insulation was installed negligently. However, in March 2023 the Property Care Association published their inspection protocol for building professionals who are asked to consider spray polyurethane foam that has been applied to the pitched elevation of domestic roofs.
One of their five considerations is that there should be a physical inspection of the roof. It states:
“The surveyor should record the visual factual information relating to the roof.
This should include:
• The nature of construction and condition of the roof and its principal water-resistant coverings and underlays. Residential surveyors may want to include their condition rating systems during recording.
• The approximate age of the roof and details of intersecting structures. • Evidence of repairs, renewals, or additions.
• Construction features of the pitched roof, roof void and room below including, but not limited to, pitches, parapets, valleys, gutters, hips, ridges, dormers, and the orientation of all elevations.
• The materials and condition of the supporting structures (wood or steel).
• The condition of the roof, flashings, leadwork, flaunching, and associated rainwater management systems. The surveyor should take account of all visible evidence of defects in the roofs design, orientation or condition, stating any limitations of access to view.
• Any internal evidence of defects in the roof, roof void or rooms below, or rainwater management systems such as signs of water ingress, staining, salt deposition, mould growth, wood destroying fungi or wood destroying insects.
• The moisture content of significant roof timbers.”
This demonstrates that, to adequately assess whether spray foam insulation is appropriate for a property, a competent surveyor must consider the condition of the roof and, if this was not done prior to the insulation being installed, it will be difficult for an installer to prove that they have acted appropriately and professionally.
Claims
You may have a claim against the installer if you believe you have been misled or you believe the installer omitted important information in such a way that was likely to deceive you into agreeing to have the insulation installed. You may also have a claim against them in negligence and breach of duty.
MJV Solicitors are not currently accepting claims directly against installers. They are typically small companies with limited resources and so we are unable to accept claims against them on a no win no fee basis.
However, if you have paid for any part of the spray foam insulation by credit card or other finance, such as a loan, we may be able to assist you. This is because we may be able to bring the claim for the negligent installation of the spray foam insulation against the lender rather than the installer due to the provisions of the Consumer Credit Act.
You may only have paid a small amount or deposit by credit card or you may have take a loan to pay for the insulation. The amount you financed is not an issue provided some of the payment was made by finance. We will need you to provide us with evidence of the finance such as a credit card statement or a copy of your loan agreement.
If you have paid for some of the cost of the spray foam insulation by finance and you are concerned that it may have been installed negligently please contact us to discuss a possible claim. This may be that you are aware of issues with the insulation or you may be unaware of them but concerned because of the scandal around mortgages. You do not need to be certain of a negligent installation. We will investigate that for you, but if you have any concerns such as the installer not completing a proper survey as described above, please contact us to discuss a claim.
Damages
Each claim is different and we would advise you on the merits of your claim and what you are able to claim at the appropriate time. However, some of the things we may be able to claim include:
- The cost of having the spray foam insulation removed;
- The cost of any repairs to the roof and or exterior of the property;
- The cost of any repairs to the interior of the property;
- Any interest paid; and
- Any other out of pocket expenses such as the cost of repairs you have already completed.
Our terms
If we accept your claim, we will accept instructions under the terms of a damaged based agreement. We normally pursue a complaint against the lender and, if they do not resolve that satisfactorily, we will progress the complaint to the financial ombudsman.
Complaints to the lender and ombudsman do not bear costs and so, rather than ask you to pay our costs at an hourly rate, we are normally willing to accept instructions pursuant to a damages based agreement. We are paid 25% of the damages you recover including VAT, but not disbursements which are additional.
How to claim
Please call Ellis Mason on 01253 858231 or email claims@mjvlaw.co.uk to find out more.
Third party guidance
Details about the difficulties you may have in securing a mortgage against a property with spray foam insulation installed can be found here:
Spray Foam Roof Insulation Warning To Home Owners – Home Owners Alliance (hoa.org.uk)
This is a well known problem and the House of Commons Library published a research note on the issues homeowners were facing, which was updated in February 2024:
Spray foam insulation and mortgages (parliament.uk)
Many homes had spray foam insulation installed thanks to a government “Green Deal” grant and yet the government has not come forward with any scheme to help homeowners who are now facing issues with the product.