An IBG (or an ‘Insurance Backed Guarantee’) is an Insurance product which protects the homeowner, should the installation company cease to trade.
Upon completion of the job, the company will provide their customer with a guarantee to protect them in the event that something goes wrong with the installation. However, should the company cease to trade before the guarantee has expired then the guarantee can no longer be fulfilled.
If the homeowner has a GGFi Insurance Backed Guarantee in place, the policy’s underwriters will consider claims under the terms of the original guarantee for the remaining period of the guarantee. For example, if a tradesman provides a homeowner with a 10 year Insurance Backed Guarantee and the tradesman ceases to trade after 5 years, it would be possible for the homeowner to submit a claim within the remaining 5 years should a fault occur on the installation. Our policy defines ‘cease to trade’ as Liquidation, Receivership, Administration or the winding up of a business due to Bankruptcy or Death of the Principal(s).
GGFi Insurance Backed Guarantees are underwritten by Red Sands Insurance Company (Europe) Ltd (regulated by the FSC and registered in Gibraltar) and AmTrust Europe Ltd (regulated by the FSA and registered in the United Kingdom). Both insurers are members of the Association Of British Insurers, The Financial Ombudsman Service and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). In the unlikely event that the Tradesman and the Insurers cease to trade, the homeowner can still claim for compensation through the FSCS subject to the FSCS terms and conditions.