Valuable Consumer Protection
An Insurance Backed Guarantee (IBG) is a low cost, long term insurance policy, which provides valuable protection for consumers when undertaking home improvement projects. The principal of an IBG is to honour the terms of the written guarantee, originally issued by the installing contractor, where that contractor has ceased to trade as defined within the policy document and is therefore unable to satisfy claims against that guarantee.
Why?
Many contractors will be happy to guarantee their work against defects in workmanship or materials for between 1 and 10 years, which is the period often given by home improvement companies such as glaziers and roofers. If a fault arises in the works, the contractor would normally honour his responsibilities by attending to the fault at no cost to you. However, what if that contractor has gone out of business and is unable to attend? There is no guarantee that any contractor will still be around years later to honour their guarantee to you.
What does an Insurance Backed Guarantee cover?
If a fault is discovered in the original works after the contractor has ceased trading for particular reasons such as liquidation, receivership, administration, or winding up of the business owing to bankruptcy, state retirement or death of the principal, and the contractor is unable to honour their guarantee then a claim should be intimated. If the fault falls under the terms of the original contractor's written guarantee then the Insurance Backed Guarantee would meet the reasonable cost of rectifying the defects up to a limit of the original contract price.
What is the Policy Term?
Usually the policy term is linked to the number of years guaranteed by the contractor, which for many trades is 10 years. The term would start from the satisfactory completion of the job.
Is the cover transferable?
As long as the contractors guarantee says it is transferable then yes.
What trades is an Insurance Backed Guarantee available for?
The majority of contractors who issue a written guarantee to their customers protecting against defective workmanship or materials should be able to obtain Insurance Backed Guarantees. Home improvement work such as roofing, double glazing, conservatories, roofline, kitchen and bathroom installation, cladding, extensions and many others.
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