How to protect the money you pay suppliers

Most wedding suppliers are small businesses, and most of them are honest and good at what they do. But some stop trading every year, often a long time after taking deposits for weddings a year or more away. When that happens, the way you paid decides whether the money comes back.

Bank transfer: the least protection

A bank transfer to a genuine business that later goes under is very hard to recover. There is no one to claim from. If a supplier asks for a transfer to a personal account, or asks you to pay outside the platform you found them on, treat that as a reason to slow down.

Credit card: the most protection

Under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, if you pay for something costing between £100 and £30,000 using a credit card, the card provider is jointly responsible if the supplier breaks the contract or goes bust. That covers the whole price, even if you only put the deposit on the card.

Paying off the card in full each month does not change that protection.

Debit card: some protection

Debit cards do not have section 75, but most banks run a chargeback scheme you can use if a business fails to provide what you paid for. It is voluntary and has time limits, often around 120 days, so ask your bank how theirs works.

Wedding insurance

A policy usually covers a supplier failing, the venue closing, and cancellation for reasons like serious illness. It is cheap relative to what it covers. Buy it when you pay your first deposit, not the month before the wedding, because it cannot cover a problem that has already started.

Read the contract

• ✦Is the deposit refundable, and in what circumstances?
• ✦When is each payment due, and how much is it?
• ✦What happens if you cancel, and how does the charge change as the date gets closer?
• ✦What happens if the supplier is ill or cannot attend? Do they send a named replacement?
• ✦What exactly is included, in hours, items and people?

How it works here

When you book through Perfect My Wedding you do not pay the supplier directly. You pay us, we hold it, and it is released to them two days after your wedding. If a supplier cancels or does not turn up, the money has not left, so there is nothing to chase. Each supplier's cancellation terms are shown before you book, and because we hold the funds, those are the terms that apply.