What Costs Are Involved?
The cost of a lift is of the greatest importance. It can also be the most difficult question to get answered during your search for the right company to use.
If you want an over-the-phone idea then call us for free on 0800 298 3040 anytime and we can help you today.
Alternatively you can visit our contact page to email us or arrange a brochure or callback.
Often our suppliers will have special offers available, below ‘rack rates’ and few people realise, that in the mobility products world, prices can be negotiable if it is approached in a certain way. For information that may raise your eyebrows contact us now. We can save you money.
Could I give you some prices now? Yes, starting at £0. Yes, you read it correctly, ZERO, ie totally without cost, up to ….. £11,500 (eleven thousand five hundred pounds). Ehhhh?? Read on down for my real figures.
My statement isn’t meant to be flippant, but one to illustrate just how un-straightforward it can be to get a spontaneous answer to asking what outlay is required. Those figures just quoted are the two extremes of cost I have encountered during my years of involvement in the chairlift business. Detailed facts follow shortly.
Many websites and suppliers can be accused of not wishing to be upfront with prices and merely to create the opportunity of a salesperson’s visit. Indeed, some firms may employ commission sales people whose aim is to achieve the highest price possible for their company. This may please both the firm they represent, and the agent’s spouse – who will enjoy a higher standard of living from their partner’s potential high earnings. I deplore any kind of designed script-written sales approaches and tactics that, after all, are aimed at people who may be quite elderly, or poorly, or a little confused and perplexed by the whole issue of getting a necessary mobility product. However, whilst any unacceptable sales tactics always get the headlines, they are not the norm and as widespread as some would have you believe.
I am determined to guide you through a process that will eliminate any risks of dealing with the wrong people.
However, because this business is so complex having many different types of products, new, curved, straight, internal, external, reconditioned and a huge list of possible non-standard extras or features that may be suitable for a particular user of their property. So I will point all this out as quoting an off-the-cuff price without going into depth, is going to be no more than a guideline or as often described – ball-park figures.
My opening ‘quote’ … zero to £11,500 is based on the following. To be precise, I should have said €13,500 euros (plus local tax of of 5%). This was because I once oversaw the enquiry and installation of a complicated external curved installation at the four storey villa of a retired doctor on the Island of La Palma, in the Canary Isles. Numerous quotes were obtained, but the recommended and chosen one was for a British-made Minivator system which came from one of our several associated Spanish owned companies. It is unlikely you would need the same system.
And then, a stairlift for £0?? Nothing? Zero? Zilch? Is this the one you are eagerly waiting for? Well, it can happen. The area of grants and funding from various sources is well and expertly covered at this page here, as apart from the obvious social services and local authority schemes on the table, there are less well-known paths to go down.
However, in view of the fact that your task of looking for a lift is being made within a few hours of the decision to buy one – this proves something. This matter is quite urgent – and you are not going to wait months on end (or a year plus) to wait for a decision. Even when local authorities approve the need for a lift, and the user has satisfied all means tests, and all the different departments agree it can go ahead – then there may be another problem – no money in the till. This is what happened to Mr and Mrs Tom Gripton from Walsall, West Midlands, and resulted in the BBC film coverage on Castle Comfort, referred to on our home page. A short clip of that is below. Click the video to play it.
Yes, of course, a stroke of luck may always enable the discovery of a free chairlift from a company or kind individual – but the chances are not high. At Castle Comfort, one of my main roles has been in the ‘Good Deeds’ side of the business – and I am always delighted to be part of the provision of free or subsidised products for needy cases. When we funded the lift for the Griptons, our group had had a particularly busy year, and the manufacturers commissions received from business enabled us to fund our websites and provide a surplus that we were able to use to help those needy Walsall people – and others too.
No person on the planet would be happier than myself if free access products could be provided without cost all the time, or even regularly. Sadly, our planet is not like that.
And so, back to the cost of a lift for your stairs. What are these ‘ball park figures’ and why do they vary, and how do we help YOU to get the best possible deal? Some figures follow shortly. You probably will not get one for nothing – and equally so will not pay out what you may have paid once for a house, or what some may pay for a luxury motor car.
A good quality straight reconditioned top branded model can be installed for around a thousand pounds. These can be provided by numerous manufacturers or suppliers, installed and with a warranty/guarantee, usually for one year.
Lower cost lifts can be seen advertised in many places, eBay, the local classified columns of provincial newspapers and of course the web. We have spotted figures of £495, and once or twice, a price claiming to be ‘from’ £395′ has been seen. The expression ‘from’ of course speaks volumes, and on looking into claims of an install being completed for £495 we find a guarantee of three months is applied – which suggests an older lift is being risked to satisfy the needs of someone struggling to climb the stairs. A thrifty shopper in Liverpool sent me a photograph once of an old high-side lorry parked where all would see it – with ‘STARELIFTS £300 Tel xxx’ painted on the side. We trust the seller was better qualified in fitting lifts than spelling!
My advice if offered a job much below £1,000… is caveat emptor, ‘may the buyer beware.’
Rack rate quotations (meaning the off the shelf normal charge) for a new one can, depending on the brand, the extras required and the warranty included, which may be several years, range between £1,300 and £2,700.
BUT… I STRESS THESE ARE ‘RACK’ RATES. So if you are budgeting below that, contact us to get access to our special offers, because at times some of the manufacturers with whom we are constantly in touch with, will do an installation (for various reasons) at below that £1300 figure.
Curved systems are a lot more expensive, with a good reconditioned one costing at least two and a half thousand pounds and new ones between three and five thousand. Again, the big variation depends on several factors, as with straight lifts, and the following comments are crucial whatever type of product is needed.
All suppliers want your business, and in recent years, I have witnessed a considerable drop in the prices of their products. This is because of not only competition, but technology enabling many things these days to be made not only more economically, but a lot better, and more reliable. For example, the digital diagnostic displays, now on all modern manufactured units, mean any apparent fault can be discussed and often dealt with remotely, avoiding an engineer call out – saving the manufacturers considerable expense in their maintenance obligations.
Also, we have seen the introduction of ‘price match’ policies whereby one company, usually a manufacturer, will make a very competitive offer to win the order against the competition. So, how much will you get a brand new chairlift for? Well, the answer lies in each individual case, and as with buying any product it is sensible to get at least two quotes – or indeed more. This will involve a separate visit from the agent or representative of each brand to be considered. It is well worth the time and trouble. You do not need to make a decision until you are happy that you have found what you want and need – and at the right price.
I can make arrangements for these quotes. I will, after a brief chat, assess which suppliers may be best for your needs according to exactly where you are in the UK or Ireland, – or indeed in Spain. We can judge what type might be needed, which may determine the best source to use. Also, we will talk you through exactly what questions to ask, and precisely what will happen, before during and after the visits. By contacting myself or the team at Castle Comfort, and placing your trust in us, I assure you, that this is the way to find yourself… a brand new model …. expertly installed, with a warranty for …..
… NOT A LOT MORE THAN YOU MAY EXPECT TO PAY FOR A GOOD QUALITY USED ONE!
Please contact me or any of my colleagues here and we will begin!
Regards
Neil Stirling