Our 10 year insurance backed roof guarantee

What insurance backed means

An ordinary guarantee is only as good as the company that gives it. If the installer closes down, the promise closes with it, and you are left paying for any repair yourself.

An insurance backed guarantee adds a policy from an independent insurer behind our own promise. While we are trading, you come to us and we put things right. If we ever stopped trading, the insurer would step in and honour the guarantee for whatever is left of the 10 years, so the cover does not depend on us still being here.

Any deposit you pay is protected in the same way. If we were to stop trading between your deposit and your fitting day, the deposit is covered. We never take a deposit before the survey, and your written quote shows exactly when any payment is due.

What the guarantee covers

The guarantee runs for 10 years from the day your roof is finished and covers the parts of the job that are ours.

• Leaks from the panels and seals: water coming in through a panel, a joint between panels, the seals around a roof light, or the flashing where the roof meets the house wall.
• Panel defects: faults in the panels themselves, such as the skins coming away from the foam core, or the finish peeling or blistering in normal use.
• Workmanship: anything we fitted that was not fitted properly, including trims, fixings, and any gutters, fascia, roof lights or spotlights we supplied as part of the job.
• Repairs we made: any frame repair listed on your quote and carried out by us.

If a problem is covered, we fix it at no cost to you, including labour and any replacement panel.

What is not covered

We would rather you knew these now than found out later. None of them are small print tricks: they are either things we told you about before the job or things outside our control.

• Existing frame faults found at survey: if the surveyor finds a problem with your existing frame, dwarf walls or base and writes it down, and you choose not to have it repaired, faults caused by that problem are not covered.
• Damage: harm from storms beyond normal weather, falling branches, people or ladders on the roof, fire, or later building work by someone else. Your home insurance is the place for these.
• Blocked gutters that were not cleared: water backing up from gutters full of leaves can find its way in. Clearing them is part of normal upkeep, as described below.
• Changes by others: alterations to the roof, such as fitting aerials, satellite dishes or anything drilled through a panel, by anyone other than us.

How to make a claim

1. Tell us: contact us by phone, email or the contact page, and give your name, address and the date the roof was fitted.
2. Send photos: a few pictures of the problem from inside and outside help us bring the right parts first time.
3. We visit: we book a visit at a time that suits you, find the cause and explain what we will do.
4. We put it right: covered work is done at no charge. If the cause turns out not to be covered, we tell you before any work starts and give you a price.

If we were no longer trading, you would claim directly with the insurer named on your guarantee certificate, using the same details.

If water is coming in, do not wait for a dry day to call. Our guide on a leaking conservatory roof has tips for keeping the room safe until we arrive.

Keeping the guarantee valid

Insulated panels need very little care, but a few simple jobs keep the roof working and the guarantee in force.

• Clear the gutters at least twice a year, in late autumn after the leaves fall and again in spring.
• Wash the panels and trims with warm soapy water and a soft brush when they look grubby. Do not use a pressure washer, which can force water past seals.
• Do not walk, kneel or lean ladders on the roof. If something needs doing up there, call us.
• Do not drill through or fix anything to the panels without asking us first.
• Tell us about a problem soon after you notice it, so a small fault does not turn into a larger one.

Your paperwork

After fitting you receive your guarantee certificate, and building control sends the completion certificate once they have signed the roof off. Keep them together. If you sell, a buyer's solicitor will ask for both, and our guide to selling a house with a replaced conservatory roof explains why. The how it works page shows where the paperwork fits into the whole process, and the guarantee is included in every price on our price guide.