How we chose
We started from the mobility equipment suppliers Google Maps shows across Telford. Scheme memberships were sourced from the BHTA member directory and each firm's own site [5]. Each business must first meet our basic checks: it is who it says it is, it is trading today and can be reached, and anything it must hold by law is in place. Twenty-two suppliers were checked and ten met every requirement. We looked first at what customers say, then proof of competence, then trading history and stated cover, then pricing clarity and website detail. All evidence is dated early September 2026.
How to hire
Start by matching the route to your need. A high-street showroom suits buying a scooter, chair or bed you can sit in and try before paying. A Motability retailer suits leasing a scooter or powerchair against a qualifying allowance. Where a nurse, therapist or GP is already involved, ask about the council or NHS equipment route first, since an assessment may bring the equipment without a retail purchase at all. Say where the equipment will live and who will use it when you first enquire.
For stairlifts and major home equipment, get an independent assessment before you sign. Which? recommends an occupational therapy assessment through your council social services department so the type ordered suits you now and later, since you need enough mobility to transfer on and off and enough dexterity for the controls [2]. The assessor may also confirm whether the council will fund or part-fund the equipment, which changes the quotes you need.
In Telford and Wrekin the council route starts with Family Connect, the first point of contact for adult social care, which passes you to the occupational therapy team for assessment [8]. Equipment that meets your assessed need arrives on loan free of charge, and the council looks for an equipment answer before considering adaptations to the home [8] [9]. Smaller works such as grab rails or stair rails come at no cost to you, while bigger adaptations run through the Disabled Facilities Grant route below [8]. To compare before any assessment, the Independent Living Centre in Telford holds models to try, and a council virtual house tour shows adaptations room by room [9].
Check the business before you book. Search the BHTA member directory by company name, region or sector and confirm the listing matches the firm in front of you; members commit to a code of practice approved under a national consumer codes scheme [5] [7]. Match the limited company name and number at Companies House, and for a Motability lease check the qualifying allowance carries at least a year before the benefit ends [6]. Ask for public liability insurance detail and a recent local reference you can verify.
Try the equipment where you will use it. Sit in the chair, ride the scooter over the pavements you actually travel, and measure doorways, storage and the car boot against the dimensions given. Home demonstrations are normal in this trade and charity-run living centres hold models to compare. If a salesperson visits your home, expect identification on arrival plus written information and a cooling-off period, and send away any chair you do not like [3].
Where the bill is major, a Disabled Facilities Grant from the council can pay for works such as a stairlift, a level-access shower, ramps or widened doors [10]. Owners, tenants and landlords can all apply, but the work must be judged necessary and appropriate, and starting before approval can lose you the grant, so hold the start date until the paperwork lands [11]. Grants carry a completion deadline, and planning permission or building approval sits in a separate application [11]. One Telford-specific check: parts of Wellington and Newport sit in conservation areas, and Ironbridge Gorge carries an Article 4 Direction, so external works there can need permission that the same job elsewhere would not [12] [13].
Get itemised written quotes on the same scope so showrooms can be compared like with like. Each quote should name the exact model and accessories, state whether the price includes VAT or is quoted VAT-free, and set out delivery, installation, warranty length, servicing and call-out terms, and the returns policy with who pays for collection [1] [3]. If you qualify for VAT relief through disability or chronic sickness, you sign a written declaration the supplier keeps with its records, and the supplier charges no VAT rather than refunding it later [1].
At handover, expect a demonstration of the controls, the warranty documents, the user manual and a service record showing what was checked. For a Motability lease the package also carries insurance, breakdown cover, servicing and maintenance, with the allowance paid direct each month [6]. File everything with the quote and declaration, and agree who to call when the equipment fails before you need them.
A typical private job runs first contact, home survey or demonstration, written quote, installation day, then sign-off. At sign-off, run every control yourself while the engineer is still there, and leave with the warranty documents, the user manual, a service record of what was checked, and your copy of any VAT relief declaration. Note the date the first service falls due and the number to call when the equipment fails, since a fault feels more urgent once the engineer has left. Where the firm belongs to a trade body, its code of practice sets the complaints route if the aftercare disappoints [7].
Pricing
As of autumn 2026, stairlifts are the biggest single purchase in this round. A Which? survey of owners in December 2022 put the average price paid for a new stairlift at £3,867, with straight stairs averaging £3,371 and curved stairs £4,728, and each extra corner roughly doubles the starting price [2]. Treat these as planning figures and get the rail measured at home, since only a survey prices your staircase.
For seating and beds, Which? puts basic riser-recliner chairs from around £300, with dual-motor models typically £500 to over £2,000 [3]. Adjustable beds run £600 to £5,000, with single sets £600 to £1,800 and doubles £800 to £5,000 including base and mattress [4]. In Telford, Love Mobility publishes from-prices across its range, with scooters from £499 and stairlifts from £1,399, while off-road powerchairs at the Dawley Bank specialist start from £12,000.
For scooters and powerchairs, Love Mobility's published from-prices, checked in early September 2026, give the local starting points: scooters from £499, powerchairs from £1,079 and manual wheelchairs from £139. Battery type and range move the figure, as does the class: Class 2 pavement models and Class 3 road-going carriages sit under different VAT rules, so check which class suits the routes you actually travel [1]. Off-road powerchairs are a separate market, with the Dawley Bank specialist pricing its range from £12,000.
What moves the price is fit and specification: bespoke curved rails, chair size and fabric, bed size and profiling features, battery type and range, plus delivery, installation and old-equipment removal. Second-hand and reconditioned models cut the outlay, but check the returns policy and who pays for collection before you commit [3]. Hire by the shopping session suits short-term need rather than daily use.
For bought equipment, the ongoing cost matters as much as the sticker price. Shopmobility at the Telford Centre publishes registration plus a per-session hire charge, with a loyalty card rewarding repeat visits. Ask what servicing is included in a purchase, what call-outs cost later, and who pays for collection if a bulky item goes back [3]. Where servicing and call-out costs come on quotation only, get them fixed in writing before you pay.
VAT changes every comparison. If you are chronically sick or disabled and the goods are for your personal use, qualifying equipment — including wheelchairs, class 2 pavement scooters, specialist beds, stairlifts and riser-recliners — can be sold without VAT on a signed declaration the supplier keeps [1]. Class 3 road scooters qualify only where designed solely for disabled people [1]. Get in writing whether each quote is VAT-inclusive or VAT-free, the warranty and servicing terms, and what triggers a price change after survey.
Red flags
Prices a stairlift for curved stairs without a home survey and exact rail measurements [2].
Presses for a signature or deposit during a home visit without written information and a cooling-off period [3].
Quotes with no business name, address or phone number you can check at Companies House.
Will not say whether the price includes VAT or offer the relief declaration where it applies [1].
Hands over a scooter or powerchair with no demonstration of the controls.
Gives no warranty, servicing or returns terms in writing before taking payment [3].
Sells catalogue or online only with no trial and leaves the cost of returning bulky equipment on you [3].
Takes full payment before the equipment has been demonstrated, installed or surveyed.
Offers no servicing, call-out or repair route once a stairlift or powerchair is installed.
Trades from a mobile number only, with no business address or company record to check.
Corrections and business responses
Tell us what needs checking, or ask to claim a listing and reply to an assessment.