We’ve written before about the difference between workmanship and material guarantees. This post covers the third piece of the puzzle — the insurance-backed guarantee, or IBG — because it protects against the risk nobody likes to mention: the roofing firm not being around when you need to claim.
The gap an IBG fills
A workmanship guarantee is a promise from a company. If that company ceases trading — retirement, insolvency, or simply vanishing — the promise dies with it. Given that a roofing guarantee might run ten years or more, and given how many small trade firms don’t last that long, this isn’t a theoretical risk. An IBG is an insurance policy that steps in to honour the workmanship guarantee if the original firm can’t.
What an IBG typically covers — and doesn’t
Covered: defects in workmanship that the original guarantee would have covered, when the installing firm has ceased to trade. Not covered, usually: the firm still trading but refusing to come back (that’s a dispute, not an insolvency), storm damage, general wear, or work outside the original job’s scope. Like all insurance, the detail lives in the policy wording — ask to see it, not just the brochure.
When an IBG is worth insisting on
Scale matters. For a £200 tile repair, an IBG is overkill. For a full re-roof or a large flat-roof replacement — jobs with four- or five-figure price tags and decade-plus guarantees — it’s a reasonable thing to want, and deposit protection (often bundled with IBG schemes) matters too if you’re paying anything up front.
Questions to ask any roofer about their IBG
Who is the actual insurer or scheme behind it? Is it included in the quote or an extra cost? Does it cover the full guarantee period? Is the deposit protected as well? A firm offering a genuine IBG can answer all four without checking. Vagueness here usually means the “IBG” is a logo on a leaflet.
Keep perspective
An IBG is a backstop, not a substitute for choosing well. The best outcome is never needing any guarantee because the work was done right — which is why the quote, the spec and the roofer’s answers to basic questions matter more than any certificate. For bigger jobs, though: belt and braces.
Planning a re-roof and want the guarantee arrangements explained before you commit? Get in touch — we’ll put it all in writing.