Unveiled by the British Institute of Kitchen, Bedroom & Bathroom Installation (BiKBBI) at The Houses of Parliament last year, Protected now has a digital platform to connect customers with installers.
The organisation explained this month how Protected customers are linked with local installers via the website and installers are sent contact details directly to form a direct relationship.
The platform works on a one-job for one-installer basis, so Protected registered installers will not be in competition for the same customer, it said. There’s no cost for installers to join the platform, there are no lead-fees and there are no deductions from projects and it’s completely free to installers too.
Installers create their own quotes and have flexibility to adjust regional pricing to suit the project specifics. Once the agreement is made, the customer pays a deposit to secure an installation date, into a third-party payment processor and protected by an escrow agreement. An escrow is an agreement that governs the movement of money and under what conditions payments are made. 14 days before the install, the balance is made into the escrow protected account and is protected in full from there on.
“Throughout my extensive career in the home improvement industry, I’ve been constantly disappointed by the lack of protection for hard working, reputable tradespeople. Retail collapse, sometimes unfair customer expectation and the economy has hit small businesses hard and it’s not something that we should just accept. The Protected initiative means that a tradesperson will never lose money again if they’ve upheld their end of the deal by doing a good job. And that’s guaranteed,” said Damian Walters, CEO at BIKBBI.
In the event of dispute, both the consumer and the installer have access to on-site assessment from the BiKBBI to support resolution. The consumer is fully financially protected, as is the installer and the entire proposition is underpinned by insurance backed workmanship warranties and the high standards set by the BiKBBI, a statement added.
For more information visit www.protectmyinstall.co.uk