Do you really need an Insurance Backed Guarantee?
Everyone has heard stories of dodgy double-glazing firms who duck out of their guarantee obligations by folding the company and then starting it up again under a different name. In order to combat this practice and give consumers some come back "insurance-backed guarantees" have been introduced. Basically an insurance-backed guarantee works because the insurance company, and not the installer, takes responsibility for the guarantee and so will honour it if the installer folds.
Not all insurance-backed guarantees are the same however and you must ensure that the guarantee offered to you is underwritten with an insurance policy that is issued by an approved Insurer and is administered through an FSA appointed agent.
There must be no cancellation clause otherwise the Insurer will be able to "escape" the risk if so desired.
The insurance must take the form of a direct contract between the Insurer and the yourself without the involvement of any other party in the relationship.
The ten-year term must be fully prepaid to the Insurer at the outset by way of a single premium.
Full documentation must be issued to the Insured and where this consists of a certificate of insurance. Without this safeguard false claims and omissions in the administrator's certificate of insurance will go undetected.
All parties to the insurance - administrator, broker, insurer - must be clearly identified in the documentation.