What are your rights if you use a third party supplier?

If you use a third party supplier, your rights depend on several factors. The easiest way to explain it is to use an example.

• Kitchen or bathroom installation: If you’re buying a new kitchen or bathroom and you’re getting it installed as part of the contract, then your consumer rights extend to the installation of the kitchen or bathroom. What that means is that if the kitchen or bathroom isn’t installed correctly, the company you bought the kitchen or bathroom from is responsible for putting it right. It doesn’t matter whether the contractor was directly employed by the kitchen or bathroom company or a sub-contractor. If you buy a kitchen from one company and get it installed by your own builder or joiner, then it’s not the kitchen company’s responsibility to sort out any problems with bad installation. However, they are responsible for making sure that the kitchen is up to the job.

• Appliance installation: If you buy something like a washing machine or dishwasher, you can complain to the retailer if it isn’t installed correctly, if you’ve used their installation service.

• Insurance claim: If you make an insurance claim – maybe for something like water damage to your home or a broken windscreen in your car – you have better protection if you use a company recommended by the insurer or on their approved panel. In that case, if the work isn’t up to scratch, it’s the insurer’s responsibility to sort it out. If they don’t sort it out, you should complain to the insurer. If that doesn’t get the desired result, you can complain – free of charge – to the Financial Ombudsman Service here. They can make the insurance company put right any problems and, in some cases, pay compensation.