CIVALLI- Our Story

CIVALLI is a free resource and community interest project, run by volunteers most of whom have had their lives negatively impacted by an installation of cavity wall insulation that was defective in some way. There are several reasons that an installation can 'go wrong', some of which include:

  • The building was never suitable for an installation in the first place. This should be detected at the point of a pre-assessment (or suitability survey) but is often missed
  • The building is elevated and in a position or location where it is exposed to severe weather conditions
  • The outside of the building is showing evidence of distress for example cracks in the walls that could be an entrance point for water

Where did it all start?

There were a few homeowners Pauline, Dianna and Claire all of whom were experiencing difficulties obtaining redress further to experiencing problems with their installations of cavity wall insulation. All women, in different parts of the country and completely unaware of their mutual plight. All three women had made significant effort to obtain redress and find resolution to their problems, their commonality, aside the damp and mould was that they had contacted the building column in the Telegraph news. The ladies were introduced to one another and the rest as they say 'is history'.

CIVALLI and the Parliamentary Debate

Parliamentary Debate 3rd Feb 2015

February 3rd, 2015 a debate was taken to the houses of parliament discussing the cavity wall insulation industry. This was a significant achievement for CIVALLI.

Items up for discussion included:

  • The industry being slow to act upon complaints
  • There not being swift redress for homeowners
  • The industry being self regulated
  • There being clear evidence of installations being completed in homes that were not suitable for fill
John Denham Labour MP

Mr John Denham, Southampton, Itchen, Labour opened the debate:

I am pleased to open this debate under your chairmanship, Mr Sanders. I welcome the Minister to her place—I will be posing a number of questions to her at the end of my remarks.
I am able to bring this subject here for debate because of a remarkable woman, Claire Eades, and two others, Pauline Saunders and Dianna Goodwin. That trio of schoolteacher, artist and retired magistrate have shown that those whose cavity wall insulation goes wrong can find it near impossible to obtain swift and effective redress. Quite recently, they set up the Cavity Wall Insulation Victims Alliance, and I have drawn on far more cases from the association than I can report today. Other reported cases are included in the briefing pack for the debate compiled by the Library. I know that hon. Members of all parties will contribute their own constituency cases.

Listen to the debate here: