Paying for a bathroom before it is fitted: deposits, showroom orders and how Londoners keep their money safe

A bathroom is one of the larger sums most London households hand to a single business. Checkatrade's new bathroom cost guide (updated March 2026) puts a typical new bathroom at roughly £5,500 to £8,000, with an average of about £7,000 and high-end schemes from around £14,000, before London prices are taken into account. Much of that is often committed weeks in advance: a deposit at the showroom, payment for a vanity unit or bespoke glass, a further instalment when the fitters arrive.

Most of those transactions go perfectly well. But the risk is not theoretical. Citizens Advice reported in August 2025 that it had received 36,534 complaints about home maintenance and improvement between July 2024 and June 2025, more than 700 a week, with fitted kitchens (2,594) and plumbers (2,629) among the most complained-about trades. Its July 2026 research found that a quarter of homeowners had a problem with their most recent repair, that around 1.7 million had paid more than expected or been overcharged, losing £750 on average, and that 82% of those with a problem faced barriers in putting it right. Room renovations were among the areas most often cited.

What follows is a practical sequence for the period between choosing a design and seeing it installed. It assumes nothing more than a browser, a little patience and a willingness to ask direct questions.

First, find out who you are actually contracting with

Showroom names, websites and vans do not always match the legal entity on the paperwork. Ask for the full name of the company that will issue your contract and invoices, then look it up on Companies House. The search is free and takes a few minutes. Things worth noticing:

• Status. "Active" is what you want. "Active - proposal to strike off", "liquidation" or "administration" are reasons to stop and think before paying anything.
• Accounts and confirmation statements. Overdue filings are not proof of difficulty, but a business that is behind with Companies House may be behind with other obligations too.
• Age and history. A company incorporated a few months ago, trading under a long-established name, deserves a question about what happened to the previous one.
• Officers. Clicking through the directors shows their other appointments. A pattern of earlier companies dissolved or liquidated is worth weighing.

The Gazette publishes insolvency and strike-off notices, and GOV.UK suggests using Companies House or The Gazette to confirm whether a business has entered insolvency. If you are offered finance at the point of sale, the firm arranging it should appear on the FCA register; check the name and permissions there rather than relying on a logo on the brochure.

Credentials that mean something

Citizens Advice found that one in five homeowners struggled to verify a trader's accredited credentials. The most useful check is to search the scheme's own register yourself rather than trust a badge on a website. TrustMark, the government-endorsed quality scheme, lets you search for registered businesses, and its financial protection page states that registered businesses are expected to provide a minimum of two years' financial protection for completed works, and that this should cover prepayments such as deposits if the business ceases trading. The cover varies by provider, so ask in writing what is offered before you sign.

For the installation itself, some electrical work in a bathroom, such as a new circuit, is notifiable under Part P of the Building Regulations, so ask which registered competent person will carry it out and how the certificate will be issued. Our earlier guide to wet room and walk-in shower regulations covers the technical side in more detail.

Deposits, staged payments and how to pay

No statute caps a bathroom deposit, so the figure is a matter of negotiation. A reasonable principle is that money paid in advance should correspond to something the company genuinely has to buy or make for you, such as a made-to-measure vanity or a bespoke shower screen, and that the remainder follows progress: on delivery of the goods, on first fix, and on completion and sign-off. Be wary of requests for the full price up front, for payment in cash, or for transfers to a personal account rather than the company's.

The method of payment matters as much as the amount. Citizens Advice explains that under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, if you pay by credit card for a single item costing more than £100 and up to £30,000, the card provider can be jointly responsible if something goes wrong. Crucially, you can still claim if only part of the cost went on the card: its own example is a £50 credit card deposit on a £250 oven, with the full £250 claimable. If you paid by debit card, or Section 75 does not apply, Citizens Advice suggests asking your bank to use chargeback instead, and PayPal disputes must be opened within 180 days of payment. Section 75 usually does not apply if you paid an intermediary rather than the trader directly.

Cooling-off: showroom, home visit or online

Many people assume there is always a cooling-off period. There is not. The Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 give a 14-day right to cancel only for distance contracts (online, phone, mail order) and off-premises contracts, such as one signed at your kitchen table after a home design visit. A contract signed in the showroom generally carries no statutory right to change your mind, so read the cancellation terms before you sign.

Where the right does apply, the 14 days run from the contract date for services, and from when you receive goods for a sales contract. There are important limits. Regulation 28 excludes goods made to the consumer's specifications or clearly personalised, which can catch made-to-measure furniture. On the other hand, if a trader fails to give you the required information about cancellation, regulation 31 extends the cancellation period by up to 12 months, and for off-premises contracts regulation 19 makes the failure a criminal offence. A salesperson in your home who is reluctant to leave written cancellation information is telling you something.

Delivery, damage and checking what arrives

Bathroom goods are bulky, fragile and frequently delayed. The Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 28, requires goods to be delivered without undue delay and within 30 days unless another period is agreed. If a date was agreed and it was essential, or you set a reasonable further deadline that is missed, you can treat the contract as at an end and are entitled to a refund without undue delay. If timing matters, perhaps because fitters are booked or a room is out of use, say so in writing at the time of the order.

Under section 29, goods remain at the trader's risk until they are in your physical possession, so breakages in transit are the seller's problem. Unpack and inspect promptly, photograph the condition and serial numbers, and report faults in writing. The short-term right to reject faulty goods lasts 30 days and, where the trader installs them, does not begin until you have been told installation is complete. A cracked basin should not simply be fitted and argued about later.

If the company stops trading

This is the outcome that costs households most, and the honest answer is that the insolvency process rarely makes a customer whole. GOV.UK's guidance for creditors sets out the order of payment: the costs of the insolvency first, then preferential creditors, then holders of floating charges, and only then unsecured creditors, which is where a customer with a deposit usually sits. It states plainly that if there are few assets, you may receive nothing. You can still lodge a proof of debt, and the Insolvency Service helpline is 0300 678 0015.

In practice, the protection you arranged at the outset is what counts: a credit card claim, a chargeback request made promptly, or any deposit or insurance-backed guarantee. Keep every contract, invoice and message, because each route will ask for evidence.

Warning signs worth heeding

• A "today only" price that requires a large deposit before you leave the showroom or before the salesperson leaves your home.
• No written quotation itemising products, labour, removal of the old suite and making good.
• A bank transfer to an individual, or a company name on the invoice that differs from the one you checked.
• Reluctance to put delivery dates, cancellation terms or deposit protection in writing.
• Accreditation logos you cannot find on the scheme's own register.

None of these proves bad faith on its own. Together, they are a good reason to pause.

When something has gone wrong

Put the complaint in writing, keep it factual, and set a reasonable deadline. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, services must be performed with reasonable care and skill, and goods must be as described and of satisfactory quality. If the trader is a member of a scheme, use its complaints process. The Citizens Advice consumer helpline is 0808 223 1133 and can refer cases to Trading Standards. If you believe you have been deliberately defrauded, report it to Report Fraud, the national reporting service, and contact your card provider at once.

Citizens Advice's research also found that 26% of homeowners had delayed or avoided work because they did not trust tradespeople. Caution is understandable, but it need not mean an ageing bathroom. A business that is happy to be checked, puts its terms in writing and takes payment in stages is generally one that intends to finish the job.

Sources were checked on 23 October 2026.

Sources, each checked on 23 October 2026: Checkatrade new bathroom cost guide (March 2026); Citizens Advice, 11 August 2025; Citizens Advice, 7 July 2026; TrustMark financial protection; Citizens Advice on Section 75 and chargeback; Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, regs 19, 28, 30 and 31; Consumer Rights Act 2015, ss 22, 28, 29 and 49; GOV.UK guidance for creditors (updated 9 January 2025). Cost figures are published national guides, not quotations. This article is general guidance for homeowners in England and is not legal or financial advice.