Ian Lofthouse died aged 74 after a short battle with pneumonia, encephalitis, sepsis, and the effects of a stroke.

His son Christian says Ian's constant worry and suicidal feelings over how he would pay a devastating £7,000-plus bill resulting from a "no-win no-fee" legal claim decimated his dad's physical health and robbed him of his strength to cope.

Ian was among numerous residents nationally facing up to tens of thousands in debt - after legal firm SSB Law went bust in January - over "no-win, no-fee" compensation claims for cavity wall insulation installed under a government scheme that caused mould and damp in their homes. It is despite assurances throughout their case that they would not pay a penny. 

Along with the mental anguish caused by the debts, many victims say their physical health has suffered due to living with mould and damp. Christian believes it worsened his dad's COPD and asthma.  

The grandad, who helped to feed starving people in his youth, would dance the night away not so long ago.

But 12 months later, he couldn't eat or sleep due to the worry of how he'd pay the bill on his state pension. It "aged him 20 years" in just a few months, says Christian, who feels SSB Law is partly liable for his death. He leaves behind three children, five grandchildren, and a wife of 50-something years.

Experts believe the travesty has impacted more than 10,000 people and is “1,000 times bigger than the Post Office scandal".

It began with a government green scheme gone wrong following the Kyoto Protocol in 1997. It was designed to reduce the UK's carbon footprint and fuel poverty by cutting heating bills for people living in uninsulated houses, mainly terraces in urban areas like Burnley, Blackburn, Bradford, and Halifax.

The public pays for the ECO scheme via an 8% levy on their energy bills.

Experts say Cavity Wall Insulation (CWI) caused mould and damp due to being installed poorly, in the wrong homes, and in the wrong places (like by the coast and high-elevation areas with wind-driven rain). Victims say pre-surveys were not carried out on their homes to determine their suitability.

Many homeowners cannot use their 25-year warranty to remove the insulation. The installers had closed down and the guarantee agencies blamed homeowners' lifestyle choices for the damp and mould or claimed they had voided their warranties by carrying out maintenance work. Some victims can only claim up to £10,000 - despite some insulation products costing more than £100,000 to extract.

Also among the victims are single mothers, pensioners, people with limited English, those on low incomes, and parents whose children have asthma, eczema, or additional needs. Many feel anxious and depressed, fearing the bailiffs will take their home.

They need urgent help.

But that's not all. We fear the scandal could become 1,500 times worse.

Nearly 15 million (14.8m.) UK properties had government-sponsored cavity wall insulation by 2023. With CWI having a 10% technical failure rate in 2015, unscrupulous no-win, no-fee firms could target around 1,500,000 homes. The Government also has a legal requirement to ensure no-one is living in fuel poverty in England by 2030. Yet, it currently impacts 6 million UK households, according to fuel poverty charity, National Energy Action.

As the Government continues to roll-out free CWI schemes, it must learn lessons from the scandal.

And so, the Burnley Express and the SSB Law Victims Group are calling on the Government to:

1. Provide funding to restore homes to their original condition;
2. Help to cover the legal debts;
3. Investigate how trade and legal firms failed and/or exploited homeowners and government green grants;
4. Introduce new laws to protect homeowners in the future, like regulating installers, surveyors, and extractors, taking control of guarantee agencies and holding their CEOs to account for non-payment of warranties, and banning the term “no-win, no-fee”.
5. Government ministers to meet with victims to discuss our detailed proposals for new legislation.
    

We want the Government to help people suffering now, and stop this "scandal upon a scandal" from repeating itself.

If you would like to join the SSB Law Victims Group, please email Laura.longworth@nationalworld.com