Insurer Royal & Sun Alliance has delayed a decision about supporting the government's anti-cowboy quality mark scheme on the grounds that its own contractor vetting process is better.
The announcement comes after the government put pressure on insurance firms to employ only quality mark contractors for repair work.

Steve Sampson, Royal & Sun Alliance's chief building surveyor, said he had reservations about the quality mark because insurance clients required higher standards of competence and customer service from contractors than that guaranteed by the quality mark's vetting procedure.

He said: "Until the quality mark is a proven success we will not back a potential loser. Our contractors currently have to be proved competent through our own eight-month vetting process that is more stringent than the quality mark."

Royal & Sun Alliance, which has a network of about 150 approved repair and maintenance contractors, is expected to make a final decision on whether to join the quality mark scheme this summer.

Until the quality mark is a proven success we will not back a potential loser

Steve Sampson, chief surveyor, Royal & Sun Alliance

Sampson said discussions had taken place with the DTI over signing up for the scheme but the firm wanted to keep its options open.

A DTI spokesperson said: "The quality mark accreditation standards are the most comprehensive in the market and all of its features, including its warranty cover, make it a very comprehensive scheme."

She said the insurer could sign up once the quality mark had shown its worth, and added that it was "strange that the Royal & Sun Alliance are talking to you as we haven't had a dialogue for over a year".