Trying to get a cheap stairlift for mum

thegilesy

Hi everyone.
I just wanted to share some information I learned while shopping around for mums stairlifts.
Firstly we discovered that due to the government cuts a lot of the councils (well ours definitely) are no longer buying stairlifts for the elderly. This meant we had to chip in between us to buy one for mum. We had quotes from the usual people such as Acorn and stannah but they were just too expensive. Acorn wanted £2695 for a standard lift and stannah over £3000. Now ok they both were offering a 2 year warranty and stannah were offering to install a dedicated power supply for the lift included in the price but it was still too much money.

To cut a long story short I started looking around on the internet for cheaper lifts and found that there are some for around £1300 - £1400. I thought to my self if thats how much a new one is how much is a second hand stairlift. So I got onto ebay and noticed that you can indeed but used stairlifts for as little as £500 (including delivery and installation and a warranty). There's lots of people selling these things. Being local to me I bought mums from a company called A M Stairlifts. A 1 year old Acorn for £650 delivered and installed.

So anyone in the same situation should take a look around rather than going to the big companies. It'll save you thousands of pounds.

Thanks for reading

For refference
ebay.co.uk
amstairlifts.co.uk - A M Stairlifts website
stairlifttrader.co.uk - Stairlift Trader (a site for second hand lifts and also where I found A M Stairlifts)

Tuesday_Tenor

Just in support of OP's helpful experience:

Companies often have second-hand stairlifts as

a) Even if these are theoretically funded by the council, the waiting list is often so long (2-3 years!) that many families fund them privately in order to get one in time. (That's what we did).

b) Although many people have stairlifts to cope with a long-term chronic mobility problem, I reckon there are almost as many who have them for a suddenly-terminal situation where the person wants to stay at home, even if it's only a matter of months. Or it wasn't intended to be short-term but actually is, as the person deteriorates so much.

Hence a perhaps higher-than-might-be-expected turnover in these items. So well worth looking for second hand through a reputable route, as suggested by OP.

xmaslolly76

Hiya i work for a stairlift company, not one of the ones mentioned above and yes you can get second hand stairlifts at very reasonable prices, but can i add a air of caution.

Please be careful where you are buying them from and make sure the companies are reputable. Stairlifts can be very dangerous if they are not maintained or installed correctly, People like Stannah and the company i work for have many years experience of putting together the absolute right package for the individual customers staircase and we have seen many stairlifts fitted quite dangerously for the sake of saving a few £s.

Many stairlifts can be used again on different staircases but we always advise that new track be installed as the tracks are very often designed, cut and fitted to the individual staircase and will not fit another one correctly.

If you are in any doubt you should be able to contact your local occupational therapy team and they can point you in the direction of a good company. Also it is worth asking some of the larger companies for their second hand sales teams, obviously being profit making companies they will not push second hand products but most if not all will do second hand sales.

OP i do hope your moms life has been made easier with the help of her stairlift i know what a lifeline they can be.

Morglin

You can rent stairlifts from companies like Stannah.

We are renting a new one for my mum - it cost £700 for the installtion, and it's costing £47 per month. That does include maintenance/repair, and they guarantee to come out 365 days of the year.

There's no fixed term of contract, you just pay month by month.

They also come and remove it when it is no longer needed.

Lin

noranora_2

Hi Xmaslolly,

Could you please recommend me some other stairlift companies? I had Stannah around they wanted nearly £3000 for a straight stairlift. I want to buy a new one and the websites mentioned above dont do new stairlifts.

Thanks

Becks0411

Incase u still wanted to know try liftabilityltd in hamble !