A new insurer has been launched to cover 20-year treatment guarantees for property damage caused by woodworm and damp.
Following authorisation by the FSA, specialist guarantee provider Guarantee Protection Trust has now formed Guarantee Protection Insurance Co Ltd (GPI).
The company, backed by £2.7m in contingency reserves, will cover 20-year treatment guarantees for woodworm, damp-proofing, wood rot and replacement wall ties. The ten-year guarantees will also be available for structural waterproofing.
GPI has over 300,000 guarantees now in place with national bodies, local authorities, housing associations and private homes. Insurance support for the guarantees, which was previously underwritten by third-party providers, will now be managed internally.
Alf Baxendale will be chief executive of GPI and GPA, with GPT and GPI company secretary Shirley Priest appointed as director and company secretary of GPA.
Baxendale said: "The combination of total independence from any vested interests and fully-resourced contingency reserves has always made our guarantees unique in comparison to those of our competitors. The new insurance company status allows us to build further on this security and reinforce the confidence which customers have grown to expect from our nineteen years' experience backing our contractor members".
