Guarantee Protection Insurance

For most home-owners the problems of woodworm, dry rot, wet rot and damp will at some time require professional advice and help to ensure a safe and cost-effective remedy. Frequently the sale or purchase of a property will require a specialist survey to determine what if anything needs to be done.

Choosing a reliable contractor from among the many advertising in your Yellow Pages, Thompsons etc may appear daunting but help is at hand. Members of BWPDA are authorised to display the association’s logo in their advertising and home-owners are well advised to select a member company.

Membership of the BWPDA is not merely a matter of paying a subscription unlike many other trade bodies. Members have to meet strict criteria for employment of qualified staff, trading history, customer service and health, safety and environmental protection. This involves making a detailed application, being inspected at least once by BWPDA technical staff and, following admission, an on-going regime of inspections for management procedures and workmanship standards.

Many building societies, local authorities and housing associations recognise the value of the standards set by the BWPDA by only accepting work to be done by members. Guarantee Protection Insurance (GPI), an independent body providing insured protection for damp and timber guarantees, only accepts members of BWPDA.

This valuable low cost single premium insurance ensures that the guarantee continues to provide protection even if the contractor goes out of business.

Probably the most frequent enquiry made to the BWPDA concerns guarantees issued following timber treatment and damp proofing works. BWPDA members commit themselves to honour their guarantees and a high proportion of members have been in business for many years, evidence of the tough criteria for membership in the first place. Many of the guarantee enquiries to the Association, however, reveal that a lot of companies go out of business leaving their guarantees worthless. A high proportion of such companies were not BWPDA members in any case but members themselves are not immune from business failure in times of recession. Recognising this the Association helped to form the Guarantee Protection Trust over 15 years ago. The Trust is open only to members of BWPDA and members can offer their clients long term insurance for their guarantee on payment of a once-only premium. If the company then goes out of business and a valid guarantee claim arises then GPT insurance will cover the cost of any necessary guarantee work.

As an alternative some of the larger manufacturing members of BWPDA supplying products to remedial treatment companies also provide a back up for their customer's guarantees. In other cases the size, trading history and reputation of individual member companies provide assurance to clients that guarantees have a value in the long term.

Clients are advised to ascertain what form of long term assurance that guarantees will be honoured is available from the member company and to satisfy themselves that the protection offered meets their own requirements.

With the additional benefit of a mediation and arbitration service from the BWPDA in the event of a dispute arising between a customer and a member it all adds up to choosing a BWPDA member to be safe, sure and certain.