Paying for a conservatory roof: deposits, stage payments and finance

A new conservatory roof is a large purchase. On a medium conservatory (about 4m x 3.5m), typical fitted prices run from about £1,800 for insulated panels to £12,600 for a hybrid roof, and an orangery conversion can reach £35,000. Which? members who replaced a roof reported an average of £6,144 in an April 2026 survey. How you pay decides what you can get back if something goes wrong. This guide covers deposits, stage payments, deposit protection and finance, and the questions to ask before you sign. It does not recommend any lender or credit product.

How much deposit should I pay for a conservatory roof?

No more than 25% of the price, and less if the installer will accept it. Citizens Advice recommends a 25% maximum, and deposit protection schemes such as DGCOS only cover deposits up to that level. Pay by credit card if you can, get a receipt, and never pay a large cash deposit.

A 25% request is not proof that a firm is safe. Suffolk Trading Standards warned in 2024 about cold callers offering conservatories, roofs, windows and insulation who asked for 25% deposits, or for cheques with the payee left blank. At the other end, at least one regional installer advertises that it takes no deposit or stage payments at all, so it is worth asking.

Here is what 25% means at typical prices for a medium conservatory:

Roof	Typical fitted price	25% deposit
Insulated panels	£3,100	£775
Polycarbonate	£3,900	£975
Glass	£5,200	£1,300
Hybrid	£9,500	£2,375
Tiled	£9,600	£2,400
Orangery conversion	£24,500	£6,125

On the larger jobs, a 25% deposit can exceed a protection scheme’s cash cap, so check the limit before you pay. Installers usually quote including VAT, but check each quote says so. Our cost guides show the full ranges for each roof type.

How deposit protection works

Deposit protection insures your deposit if the installer stops trading before the job is finished. The main providers describe their cover like this:

Provider	What it says it covers	How long
DGCOS	Up to 25% of the contract value, maximum £5,000	120 days from signing; active only once DGCOS confirms cover in writing
Consumer Protection Association	Up to 25% of project costs or £7,500, whichever is lower	Up to 120 days or until work begins
HomePro	Deposits up to 25%, maximum £10,000	Not stated on the page we checked
QANW	Deposit cover	Generally 120 days from payment

Three things to know. First, the cover is for the deposit only; it does not pay to finish an incomplete job. Second, most of it lasts about 120 days, so if your start date is months away, check the cover will still be running. Third, it only exists if it has been set up, so ask for written confirmation rather than relying on a logo.

Paying by credit card, debit card or cash

Credit card. Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 makes the card provider jointly liable with the installer for misrepresentation or breach of contract, where the cash price is over £100 and no more than £30,000. Citizens Advice says it applies even if only part of the cost, such as the deposit, went on the card. Note the upper limit: an orangery conversion on a medium conservatory can cost up to £35,000, which takes it outside Section 75.

Debit card. There is no Section 75 protection, but you can ask your bank for a chargeback, which recovers what was paid on that card.

Cash or bank transfer. This is the riskiest way to pay. When Safestyle went into administration in October 2023, customers who had paid cash deposits were told they would not be repaid, while card payers were told to claim under Section 75. When a firm fails, Citizens Advice says you register as a creditor but might not get any money back. When Colfax, a Hull window and conservatory firm, went into liquidation in 2024, Business Sale reported that any money customers had paid would form an unsecured claim against the company.

Stage payments: pay as the work is done

Citizens Advice recommends a written contract that sets out exactly what you are paying for, with payments made in stages at agreed milestones rather than up front. TrustMark runs a “Trusted Payments” service that releases money at milestones. A schedule for a roof replacement might look like this:

1. Deposit on signing, no more than 25%, protected and paid by credit card.
2. A stage payment at an agreed point, such as the day the roof is weathertight.
3. The balance on completion, once you have walked round the finished job with the installer and agreed any snags.

Whatever you agree, put it in the contract, along with who applies for building control approval and when you will get the completion certificate. Prefer a fixed quote to an estimate: Citizens Advice warns that an estimate can leave you liable for extra charges. Ask how any extra work found once the old roof is off will be priced and approved.

Conservatory roof finance: what to check before you sign

Many installers offer to arrange finance so you can pay monthly. The Eco Experts says it typically spreads the cost over 12, 24 or 36 months and usually includes interest. When we checked in September 2026, two national retailers advertised a representative APR of 11.9% over terms from 36 months, while some smaller firms advertised 0% deals or “pay nothing for six months”. We do not recommend lenders or products, and whether finance suits you depends on your own circumstances. These points apply to any offer.

You can change your mind. Under section 66A of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 you can withdraw from a regulated consumer credit agreement within 14 days without giving a reason. You then repay any credit already advanced, plus interest, within 30 days. This is separate from your right to cancel the installation contract, which is normally 14 days if you signed at home.

Read the credit terms, not the headline. In 2007 the advertising regulator upheld a complaint that Safestyle’s “Buy now, pay next year” credit terms were misleading. A monthly figure tells you little on its own.

Do not be rushed. Falsely claiming a price or finance deal is only available for a limited time, to push an immediate decision, is a banned practice under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. Citizens Advice says that if you were pressured or misled, you may be entitled to a full refund if you act within 90 days.

Questions to ask about any finance offer:

• Who is the lender, and is this a regulated credit agreement?
• What is the total amount payable, and how does it compare with the cash price?
• Is the cash price the same whether or not I take the finance?
• When is the first payment due, and does anything change if the job is delayed?
• What happens to the finance if I cancel the installation within the cancellation period?
• Is there a charge for paying it off early?

Grants and VAT

We have found no government grant for replacing a conservatory roof. None of the schemes we checked on GOV.UK (the Energy Company Obligation, the Warm Homes: Local Grant and the Boiler Upgrade Scheme) lists conservatory roofs, and the Great British Insulation Scheme ended on 31 March 2026. When one MoneySavingExpert user was offered a “substantial subsidy” by a firm, other posters said they knew of no such scheme. Our guide to conservatory roof grants covers what does and does not exist.

On VAT, the standard rate is 20%. HMRC zero-rates the installation of certain energy-saving materials, including roof insulation, until 31 March 2027, after which the rate becomes 5%. But HMRC’s own example says insulation fitted as part of a wider construction job is one standard-rated supply, so a full roof replacement is likely to be charged at 20%. Materials bought supply-only from a retailer are always standard-rated. Ask each installer to show VAT clearly on the quote and confirm the rate in writing.

What happens if the installer goes out of business?

It depends on when it happens and what you set up at the start. Before the work is finished, deposit protection and card payments are your main routes to getting money back. Once the roof is fitted, an insurance-backed guarantee takes over the installer’s written guarantee, although the cover can be shorter.

• Before the work is finished: deposit protection, if you have it, pays back the deposit within its limits. A credit card payment gives you a Section 75 claim. Anything else is usually an unsecured debt.
• After the work is finished: the insurance-backed guarantee applies on its own terms. Guardian’s, for example, covers workmanship issues arising in the first two years if its certified installer stops trading, while the installer’s own guarantee runs for 10 years.

Our guide to guarantees, insurance and deposit protection explains the differences in more detail, and our red flags guide covers pressure selling.

Budget for the whole job, not just the roof

Some quotes leave out items that others include. MyJobQuote’s 2026 guide lists these as common extras:

Item	Typical cost
Skip hire	£120 to £300
Scaffolding, if needed	£400 to £800 (MyJobQuote says it usually is not)
New guttering	£150 to £500
Internal finishing for a solid roof	£500 to £2,000
Building control fees	Around £200 to £400 in the guide; council fee tables we checked run from about £180 to £1,038

Ask each installer which of these are in their price, and base your deposit and stage payments on the full total. The cost calculator gives a starting range for your size and style. When you get quotes, put the same payment questions to each firm, and use our guide to comparing conservatory roof quotes to line them up like for like.