NRWB Client Liaison Executive, Jessica Jewell, is celebrating the success of NRWB and looks forward to even more benefits for members in 2012.
Christmas is coming; the lights are on the tree, how about a turkey leg for dear old me? Yes it’s that time of year again. Is it me or does it come around more quickly every time? Must be getting old...
Although some of you might agree with me that it has flown past, 2011 has proved to be an eventful year for NRWB with quite a few achievements to acknowledge.
We kick-started the year by opening warranties to all FMB and non-members and are pleased to announce that to date we have sold an additional 30 policies.
Soon after, we announced the change in TrustMark’s criteria allowing FMB members to join without having to upgrade. Over 100 FMB members took this opportunity and I would encourage more of you to do so as membership of TrustMark gives you automatic access to their website visited by more than 3.4 million people last year alone looking for a tradesman!
Mid-year we announced an inspection service available to your MasterBond warranty clients to provide them with the confidence to settle interim and/or final accounts. We’re hoping to extend this product outside of this market at some point soon.
We have been lucky this year in that our new partners have approached us with product offerings, no doubt down to our good reputation! Both FMB XS and Weather Protect have been introduced this way and we will continue to promote these products next year.
WHERE ARE WE HEADING
We are all looking forward to 2012 and have some exciting prospects ahead!
January will see a big change for us. Not only will we be trading under a different company name but we will also be launching our re-brand which is very consumer-friendly. I cannot give too much away at the moment, but all will be revealed in next month’s issue!
The re-brand is leading to the design of new literature, stickers and forms so if you are currently out of stock please remember that as our current items will soon be obsolete anything you order will be provided but only in minimal amounts, just to keep you going.
By January our e-commerce site should also be up and running, allowing both you and your clients to purchase insurance policies online. We will gradually add other facilities to the website such as the ability for you to view all policies purchased by your clients and to keep track of any warranty complaints submitted about your company. We will of course still be accepting proposal forms sent to us by post.
The long awaited new housing product should hit the market early next year too, with NRWB securing backers and approving the policy wording and pricing matrix. Quotes will be very competitive with the likes of NHBC, Premier Guarantee and BuildZone and we welcome you to contact us for a non-binding indication for any work that has not yet commenced.
To promote ourselves and our new brand we will be attending trade shows next year with the National Home Building and Renovating Show negotiations currently being finalised. The National HB&R show takes place at the NEC, Birmingham and is on from 29 March – 1 April. So come and see us on stand B137.
I hope that you’ll agree that NRWB has been and is continuing to work hard to raise all important awareness of warranties and the ability to protect an investment and, in turn, the FMB and you as members.
I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
