INSURANCE
BACKED GUARANTEES |
| Why is insurance
required? |
| A contractor will show
confidence in his workmanship by giving written guarantees ranging
between 12 months and 10 years for the majority of home improvement
contracts. If a fault arises during the guarantee period the
contractor would normally call to fix the problem at no charge.
However a contractor cannot give an absolute assurance as to the length
of time he will be in business and therefore be able to honour his
guarantee. For this reason a professional contractor should
always provide an insurance cover, which will honour his guarantee,
in the unlikely event of him ceasing to trade. |
| What is
covered? |
| If a fault
is discovered in the original works and you cannot have this fixed
because you find the contractor has ceased trading you would lodge
a claim. A report would be prepared by another contractor to
determine the cause of the problem and if the fault(s) would have
been covered by the terms of the contractor's guarantee then the Insurance
will meet the reasonable costs of rectifying the defects up to the
limit of the original contract price. |
| Is the cover
transferable? |
| If
the contractor's guarantee is transferable to subsequent owners of
the property the insurance cover will also automatically transfer
to the new owner. |
| 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 upto 10 years and the cover commences
from the date the contract is satisfactorily completed. Upon
receipt of premium the Certificate of Insurance is issued. |
| Who protects
me? |
| The
insurance is underwritten by a major leading British Insurer of long
standing who is DTI (Department of Trade and Industry) authorised,
a member of the Financial Ombudsman Service and registered with the
General Insurance Standards Council and the Financial Services Authority. |
| How can
I protect myself against the cowboy operators? |
| Many contractors set
high standards of workmanship and materials and often a recommendation
from a friend or colleague can be the best advice. It is good
to look at the contractor's membership of trade organisations, as
often they will have been set stringent levels of criteria to gain
the title of Registered Installer. Many companies are now displaying
the Quality Mark logo to show that they meet the required standards
as set by the DTI scheme which has a mandatory insurance cover. |
| FENSA registered
contractors |
| Following
changes to Part L of Building Regulations which take effect from 1st
April 2002, double glazing contractors who are registered with FENSA
(as WINDOW CARE NW Ltd is) can self certify their double glazing work
without the need to go through local Building Control. A condition
of registration is that insurance is offered on every contract carried
out by the contractor. |
| So
how much does the insurance cost? |
| In order
to benefit from peace of mind and knowing that should your double
glazing generate any faults WINDOW CARE NW Ltd can insure the installation
for as little as £17.50 |
