Insurance Backed
Guarantees
Delivering peace of mind to our clients’ clients
An Insurance Backed Guarantee (IBG) is a guarantee offered by an insurer that will honour the terms of a warranty that a contractor has issued. This provides peace of mind to all parties that if any the contractor ceases to trade and there are any defects in workmanship or materials, the insurer will honour any valid claims.
The terms offered by insurance providers for latent defect insurance are becoming more stringent and, as a result, will require developers to arrange additional cover to benefit fully from the policy. We are seeing a rise in the requirement for insurance backed guarantees (IBG’s) with the onus being on developers to arrange insurance backed guarantees for flat roofs, tanking and underpinning.
It’s important to note that elements of your latent defect policy will not cover aspects of workmanship- if you do not have an IBG in place. Always check the specifics and fine detail on the insurance term sheet to avoid exclusions on your policy.
Insurance Backed Guarantee Benefits
Offers peace of mind to the contractor and product & workmanship
Provides additional security incase of contractor insolvency
Limits the possibility of lenders saying “no” on a mortgage or refinancing case.
Provides protection and security for the owner & funder.
Enhances tender applications where an IBG is a requirement
Enables the policy holder to benefit from all aspects of their latent defect policy
Insurance Backed Guarantee Case Study
Case Summary
We had a client purchase a latent-defect policy that, as part of the terms and conditions, set out a requirement for an insurance backed guarantee to ensure no exclusions would be noted in relation to the area of flat roof on the project.
Challenge
The roofs contract value was £350,000 – In this unique instance, due to the size of the project, there was a further stipulation that 11.5 years of cover needed to be obtained, as the roof works were to be completed before full practical completion of the project and of course, before the final warranty sign-off.
Solution
We secured terms for our client to put an insurance backed guarantee in place for 11.5 years. The strength of the contractor played a vital role, as this is a risk-based upon the contractor being solvent for the period of the IBG.
We placed this IBG before works commenced, securing the best possible commercial terms. Whilst these can be obtained retrospectively, this tends to be an additional expense.
We see our role as an independent advisor who reviews the merits of each policy to help our clients make well informed decisions.
We are now established as the UK property markets go-to broker for construction insurance and finance.
Our ethos is based around outstanding customer service. Obtaining specialist property insurance can be an arduous process. We take away that pain by managing the process for our clients and ensuring they receive the most appropriate and commercially attractive solutions.
