Buying a new vehicle outright - deposit insurance?

MrWheelz

I'm physically disabled & use a wheelchair, & planning to buy a brand new adapted vehicle outright, in the next few weeks.  The company that do the wheelchair conversion ask for a sizeable deposit before undertaking the conversion (a five-figure sum, & about half the total cost of the vehicle).  I'm quite nervous about paying such a large deposit upfront, given that the lead-time for delivery is around 4 months.  The risk of the company going out of business & taking my deposit with during those 4 months is no doubt small, but a risk nonetheless.  I just wondered whether anyone might have come across such an issue before?  I checked the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, but that only seems to apply to banks & other financial services.  Can anyone offer some advice?

Ayr_Rage

Insist upon paying at least part of it by credit card and you will get protection if they do not deliver.

How much exactly is "sizeable", that could be a factor.

EssexExile

Ayr_Rage said:

Insist upon paying at least part of it by credit card and you will get protection if they do not deliver.

How much exactly is "sizeable", that could be a factor.

If the price is less than £30,000.

DullGreyGuy

EssexExile said:

Ayr_Rage said:

Insist upon paying at least part of it by credit card and you will get protection if they do not deliver.

How much exactly is "sizeable", that could be a factor.

If the price is less than £30,000.

If its more than £30k there is still S75a as long as they offer finance options (and you take it) Would have imagined people charging that level for their services would.

chrisw

Have you considered getting a wheelchair accessible vehicle on Motability? It might not save you much money in the long run but will be worry free. You could then use the capital you've saved plus interest to top up your daily living costs if necessary.

Frozen_up_north

You might want to check how financially stable the company is at Companies House:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/companies-house

As others mentioned, pay at least part on a credit card.

Having just purchased a brand new car, I sympathise with your dilemma. The dealership I dealt with won’t accept payment by any card for more than £1000 and insists on payment by bank transfer (not debit card), which limits the options in case of a dispute.

GrumpyDil

Frozen_up_north said:

You might want to check how financially stable the company is at Companies House:
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/companies-house

As others mentioned, pay at least part on a credit card.

Having just purchased a brand new car, I sympathise with your dilemma. The dealership I dealt with won’t accept payment by any card for more than £1000 and insists on payment by bank transfer (not debit card), which limits the options in case of a dispute.

But a £1 credit card payment gives you the same level of protection as a £1000 payment so not sure there is a dilemma there?