Guaranteed Deposit Protection (GDP), or deposit insurance, has come back into the news over the past few months following the unexpected collapse of Safestyle UK last November – formerly one of the UK’s leading double-glazing manufacturers and installation businesses.

What Are Deposit Protection Schemes?

Deposit protection schemes were introduced internationally in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and were initially intended to protect depositors’ funds in the event that a bank collapsed. Subsequently, similar protection or insurance schemes have been extended to other investments, including double-glazed windows, building work, and house rental deposits, in order to protect the customer’s money if the supplier goes out of business before the work is completed.

This is exactly what happened in the case of Safestyle, leaving thousands of orders unfulfilled and customers in a state of uncertainty. Fortunately for Safestyle’s customers, all outstanding orders were honoured by Anglian Windows, to their credit, which purchased Safestyle’s former assets and orderbook from the administrators in December 2023.

Guaranteed Deposit Protection is now standard practice among British window, door, and conservatory installers, with many leading organisations, including Installsure, the Consumer Protection Association (CPA) and the Glass and Glazing Federation (GDF) underwriting these deposit protection schemes for businesses.

Is GDP Enough?

Guaranteed deposit protection should give you a degree of peace of mind when making an investment into your home, but is GDP alone sufficient to safeguard your money if your installer goes out of business?

Yes and no. Guaranteed deposit protection only insures your deposit, so if your installer goes out of business you’ll most likely get your downpayment back. However, it will still leave you without new windows if a company goes bust partway through a job, and it won’t honour any maintenance or after-sales care agreement you may have had with the business if you’ve already had windows installed.

Where does deposit protection leave you, for instance, if you are left with scaffolding attached to your house, or windows that have been delivered but not installed?

Insurance Backed Guarantees: 360° Protection For Your Investment

For comprehensive protection, you’ll need an Insurance Backed Guarantee (IBG), which normally includes deposit protection but also ensures that any contractual agreement made with the business is delivered should the installation company cease to trade. This includes any obligation on the installer to fix any post installation defects that would have been covered by the company’s original guarantee.

All reputable/certified double-glazing companies are obliged to offer an Insurance Backed Guarantee with every job that they do to protect the consumer’s deposit and after-sales support should the company cease to trade.

Next Steps

To find out more, please get in touch with one of our experienced service team today by calling 01162334442.

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