Spray foam installer gone bust? Warranties, insurance-backed cover and TrustMark

It depends on which kind of warranty you have, because each is backed by someone different. Homeowner guidance separates a product warranty from the installer's own warranty^[8], and RICS warns that a warranty may cover the material only, not the workmanship or design^[9]. The IMA's Code of Practice (May 2023) and Guide (October 2024) say nothing about warranty terms, durations, providers or insurance-backed warranties^[10].

Read the wording of your own documents, not the name on the cover. One warranty provider's website lists loft insulation "excluding spray foam" among the work it covers^[14]. No insurance-backed warranty wording for loft spray foam was found in the sources used for this guide.

A common claim is that spray foam comes with a standard 25-year or lifetime manufacturer warranty. The only manufacturer warranty whose terms were traced for this guide was product-only, and no lifetime warranty was found^[5].

Not in one manufacturer's product-only warranty, the only UK manufacturer warranty whose terms were traced for this guide: its remedy was repair or replacement capped at the invoiced cost of the product, with no labour, removal or reinstatement^[5]. The same document excluded improper installation and damage to adjacent materials, disclaimed implied terms and did not say whether it passes to a new owner^[5].

Installation matters too. The IMA Code of Practice says that departing from the product specification voids the manufacturer's warranty^[15]. For what the product approvals require, see how spray foam should be installed.

The government has said there are no schemes to help private homeowners pay for removal^[6]. If you are being pushed towards removal, read do you need to remove spray foam first.

For some lenders it does. The Co-operative Bank's criteria (version 4.15, July 2026) consider roof foam only with a transferable insurance-backed warranty, alongside other conditions and exclusions^[16]. Nationwide's criteria (as published in 2026) count a transferable warranty as one part of a wider evidence pack, not as an alternative on its own^[17]. Lender criteria change; see what lenders publish about spray foam for dated positions.

The handover pack described in the PCA and RPSA's Sprayed Foam Insulation Inspection Protocol (March 2023) includes warranties or insurance-backed cover assigned to the property^[18]. One case file shows how this can look when a sale is planned and the installer has gone: Installer in liquidation, sale planned: all 23 timber readings elevated in midsummer.

An independent inspection is evidence for your own decision (keep, remove or renegotiate). It is not a report for a lender, and no one can promise what a lender will do.

Ministers have pointed people with government-scheme installations to their installation warranty, but most spray foam was installed outside those schemes^[1][2][4]. In date order:

• 26 March 2025: there are no government schemes to support private homeowners to pay for removal^[6].
• 17 June 2025: the inherited quality assurance and redress system needs "root and branch" reform through the Warm Homes Plan^[19].
• 8 September 2025: the redress route is for the installer to repair, then a claim on the installation warranty, with TrustMark support^[2].
• 12 January 2026: "most spray foam loft insulation has been installed outside of our schemes"^[4].
• 16 January 2026: for scheme-funded installations, people can get non-compliant work put right even if the installer has ceased trading, by claiming under their warranty; no removal fund was mentioned^[1].
• 21 January 2026: the Warm Homes Plan promises a reformed consumer protection system but does not mention spray foam or TrustMark^[20].

What could change (as at 20 October 2026). A DESNZ consultation for government-supported upgrades ran from 17 June to 10 September 2026, and no response had been published by 20 October 2026^[7]. It proposes that scheme warranties cover installation quality, that a new service could arrange other installers where one has ceased trading (with the original installer still liable), and an independent ombudsman as a final backstop^[7]. Citizens Advice has asked for this to cover privately funded work too^[21]. Its 2025 report said people who paid privately have no clear route to redress^[11].

Usually not once the business has gone: TrustMark says it cannot help if the business has ceased trading or lost its registration^[3]. Its Dispute Resolution Ombudsman cannot consider businesses in administration or liquidation, or firms that were not registered when the work was done^[3].

The government's October 2026 policy paper sets out the same split. For scheme work completed less than six years ago with the installer still trading, it points to TrustMark's dispute resolution process, through the installer and the scheme provider named in your paperwork, then the Dispute Resolution Ombudsman. If the installer is no longer trading, it says to contact the insurance-backed warranty provider (cover typically lasts up to 10 years), and to ask TrustMark who that provider is if you cannot find the paperwork^[31]. Telling you who the provider is differs from handling the complaint, which TrustMark says it cannot do once a business has stopped trading^[3].

The Commons Library lists TrustMark dispute resolution as a route for government-scheme work^[22]. Green Homes Grant work had to be done by TrustMark-registered installers^[19], and so must ECO4 work^[23]. For ECO4, Ofgem's route is the installer first, then TrustMark's complaints process (if the installer is still registered and the work was after 1 January 2020), then the warranty provider if the installer has ceased trading, then the relevant ombudsman; Ofgem does not handle individual complaints^[13].

While a member is still trading, Citizens Advice says TrustMark members must have a complaints process and the scheme can be asked to help^[24]. Citizens Advice has also reported traders working in the able-to-pay market, where no scheme membership is required^[11].

Look the company up on the Companies House register, which records when a company was incorporated and when it was dissolved^[25]. Use the company number on your contract if there is one: Citizens Advice has described traders closing and reopening under new names^[11]. Warwickshire Trading Standards has warned that rogue installers disappear and reappear, sometimes under a new company name, to cold-call former customers about removing the foam they installed^[26].

A listing in an online directory is not evidence that a firm still exists. In October 2026, two foam companies still listed in one building-product directory had been dissolved, one in January 2024 and the other in January 2026^[25].

If the register shows the company in administration or liquidation, TrustMark's dispute service cannot consider it^[3]. That is when the warranty paperwork, and how you paid, matter most.

Start with the paperwork that names the warranty provider: the IMA's advice is that if the installer has gone, you contact the warranty provider named in your paperwork^[27]. If the installer is still trading, it says to ask the installer to confirm the details and survey the roof; if there is no paperwork and the installer has gone, it suggests an inspection by a RICS chartered surveyor^[27]. The consumer guide that IMA co-published names other professional bodies as well as RICS^[28].

• The warranty documents, and anything showing the warranty was assigned to the property^[18].
• The homeowner pack, which under the IMA Code should include any warranty^[15]. See what paperwork you should have for spray foam.
• Written notice, sent promptly. One manufacturer's product-only warranty required written notice within 7 days of discovering a problem^[5].
• Independent evidence before any removal. The PCA advises an independent assessment before accepting removal advice from any firm with a commercial interest^[29].
• Your payment records. If you paid by credit card or with finance, Section 75 can make the lender responsible alongside the supplier for misrepresentation or breach of contract, within the Act's price limits^[30]; see Section 75 and the Financial Ombudsman.
• Work done before 2020: the October 2026 government paper says to look in your paperwork for an insurance-backed warranty or the name of a scheme or quality mark, and contact that organisation^[31].