All product guarantees must be provided to the consumer free of charge and be in line with any conditions set out in the MCS product standards. By law, these guarantees must not limit the statutory rights.
The Installation Guarantee
In addition to your legal obligation to give customers a free guarantee against manufacturing faults in goods supplied, you must guarantee the installation work for a minimum of two years. This guarantee must be transferable. If your customer sells the property where the installation is located then the guarantee must be transferable to the new property owner.
This guarantee must be insured to ensure that this workmanship guarantee will be honoured if your company fails during the term of the guarantee offered. A number of insurers offer policies to insure the warranty and these are known as Insurance Backed Guarantees (IBG).
Insurance Backed Guarantees
An Insurance Backed Guarantee (IBG) is an insurance policy that backs the original guarantee given by a contractor. It provides a consumer with cover for an installation in the event that their MCS certified contractor ceases to trade. The Consumer Codes that work in conjunction with MCS, place an obligation on their members to provide an IBG and offer enhanced levels of protection to consumers.
As with terms in your contract of sale, terms in guarantees cannot limit (or replace) the rights consumers have in law. This means that they can’t be used to limit the liabilities of the retailer or the manufacturer. For example, irrespective of the guarantee you give to your customers, they have a right to complain about faulty goods for up to six years after the purchase (within five years of the fault becoming apparent in Scotland).
When purchasing an IBG, you could choose from the following providers:
Insurance Backed Guarantees through the MID
MCS has organised access to IBG policies for MCS certified Contractors through IWA that can be purchased at the same time you raise the MCS certificate for an installation in the MID. These IBGs extend to the following renewable technology installations: Solar PV, Air Source Heat Pumps, Ground Source Heat Pumps, Battery Storage and Biomass. IBG contracts can be purchased for either domestic or commercial MCS certified installations. These have varying fees.
MCS Service Company Ltd is an Appointed Representative of Independent Warranty (IWA) who are authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority
Please note that MCS is not the actual insurer and does not profit from the sale of these IBGs in any way. There are other IBG providers available. If you don’t opt to purchase an IWA IBG via MCS, you must put equivalent insurance in place with another provider.
IWA has been providing Insurance Backed Guarantees since 1985 protecting both suppliers and customers with policy cover that provides peace of mind for up to 10 years.
Protection at the highest level
Authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority, IWA’s IBGs provide IBGs for renewable technology installations with:
What about Deposit Protection?
We have separated out the deposit protection elements that can make policies expensive.
If deposits are taken, then these do need to be protected.
However, MCS recognise that deposit protection is possible in other ways, including if a deposit is taken via a credit card, therefore negating the need for additional deposit protection insurance and reducing the cost to of the IBG to the contractor.
You can still choose to purchase deposit protection from an insurance provider directly.
IBG Policy Prices with IWA
MCS and IWA have worked hard to come up with an attractive pricing structure for these IBGs. The premium payable varies depending on the type of technology installed, the value of the contract, the length of cover and the guarantee you want to offer your customers.
Policy prices can be found in the MCS Installation Database at the point of certificate creation.
How to purchase an IBG for your Consumer via MCS
This IBG product range will be available for optional purchase at the point of certificate creation for an installation. The Contractor can choose which IBG product they want and add it to basket in the MID. IWA will then create the IBG policy and send it directly to the consumer on your behalf.
Please note: If you don’t opt to purchase an IWA IBG via MCS at the point of creating the MCS certificate, you must put equivalent insurance in place with another provider.
Alternative IBG providers
There are a number of other insurance providers who offer IBG policies. You can find these listed further up the page. MCS would encourage you to select the product and policy that best suits both the MCS Contractor and your consumer.
Guarantor: IWA, 18 & 19 Babbage House, Northampton Science Park, Kings Park Road, Moulton Park, Northampton NN3 6LG
IWA is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.
All cover provided is subject to the terms and conditions contained within the policy document once issued.
Relationship Definition
MCS are acting as an Affiliate service of IWA to provide a cost-effective process that eases the process of raising of an IBG insurance policy. MCS have adjusted the certificate creation procedure in the MID so that purchasing an IBG for an installation is an integrated step – making it simpler to do.
MCS certified Contractors still have choice of IBG products and insurance providers – we aren’t mandating IWA.
Taking this approach will provide greater protection to the consumers of MCS certified Contractors. Other benefits to this arrangement means that there is no additional annual membership fee to the insurance provider, plus we have been able to negotiate preferential rates on policy prices.
Valid IBG Policy
It is important for the contractor to pay for the policy at the point of registering the consumer’s installation with MCS. A policy will only be valid once the premium has been paid and the physical policy has been issued to the consumer.
The period of cover should be equal to the maximum guarantee period provided by the installer/contractor. The maximum period of cover is up to 10 years. An insurance policy cannot be greater than the guarantee provided by the installer/contractor. If a policy is purchased for a lesser period of the guarantee provided the cover will last for the maximum period provided on the policy issued.
Use of IWA logo
The installer/contractor may use the IWA logo subject to them a) Being MCS certified and b) provided the contractor has not been refused insurance cover by IWA. The contractor should not use the IWA logo or any associated marketing support if the contractor uses another insurance provider.
Annual checks
IWA reserve the right to credit check each contractor and will have an annual monitoring system in place to ensure companies meet the minimum terms of IWA’s underwriting criteria. Once an initial check has been undertaken on the contractor, any ongoing monitoring will not have an adverse affect on the company’s credit rating.
Data Sharing and Policy Issue
As you have chosen to purchase an Insurance Backed Guarantee from IWA via MCS, this policy will be issued directly to the consumer within 10 working days of the MCS certificate being created. In order to do this, we need you to provide the details of the system owner.
This information is required in order to provide an IBG directly to the System Owner, without this information IWA (the IBG provider) will not be able successfully process the application. Please only provide this information if you have been given permission from the System Owner to do so.
MCS will only collect the information you choose to give us, and we process it with your consent or on another legal basis. We only require the minimum amount of personal information that is required to resolve the IBG application. We do not sell this information to third parties, although we may be required to share it with other organisations who are involved in the IBG Application Process, such as a IBG provider. MCS is compliant with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Please note: if the system owner does not have a valid email address, the policy will be sent via post to the installation address.
Claims Procedure
In the event of any defect arising in the works the matter should immediately be reported to the MCS certified Contractor. If a defect becomes apparent to the policy holder and the Installer has ceased trading, the IWA must be advised within 30 days. The policy holder must supply all details and proofs as may be reasonably called for by the IWA. IWA shall have the right to inspect the Works and the policy holder must complete the claims process in full. For full terms and conditions, the policy must refer to the policy document
Transferability
The Policy Holder can assign his interest under the IWA Guarantee to successors in title, provided:
Enquiries and Complaints
Any enquiries or complaints you may have regarding your IBG should be addressed to IWA, 18 & 19 Babbage House, Northampton Science Park, Kings Park Road, Moulton Park, Northampton NN3 6LG. Please quote the MCS certificate number for the installation.
Contact
For more information about IWA, please visit, www.iwa.biz
If you need any more information around the MCS and IWA product range, or if you need support with the MID when purchasing an IBG, please contact the MCS Helpdesk Team on 0333 103 8130.