Is My Deposit Protected? A UK Homeowner's Guide

If you're about to pay a deposit for a home improvement project, "is my deposit protected?" is the single most useful question you can ask before signing anything.

Deposits are usually unprotected by default. Paying a builder a deposit doesn't automatically come with any legal protection — if the business fails before starting or finishing the work, homeowners are often left pursuing an unsecured claim.

Insurance-backed deposit protection changes that, where a contractor has arranged it. Under this scheme, cover lasts for 90 days from the date shown on the Deposit Protection Policy document — a specific, dated document, not a general assurance from the contractor.

How to check before you pay: ask directly whether deposit protection is included in your contract, request the policy document itself rather than a verbal confirmation, and check the cover period and what it does and doesn't include.

Deposit protection is one part of a wider set of protections — work-in-progress, materials, and workmanship cover typically sit alongside it. See our deposit protection page for the full picture.