A straight staircase is the easy case — and it should be priced like one

Everyone else ranking for this is paid when you say yes. Here's when you shouldn't.

• The need is short-term. After a hip replacement or a knee operation, renting is very often the better answer, and almost nobody selling lifts will lead with it. Ask about rental before you discuss purchase.
• Someone cannot transfer safely onto a seat. A stair lift requires sitting down, staying seated, and standing up at the other end. If that transfer is the difficult part, the lift solves the wrong problem, and a platform lift or a downstairs living arrangement is the real conversation.
• Cognition makes independent use unsafe. A lift used unsupervised by someone who may unfasten the belt mid-flight or try to stand up is not a safety improvement. This deserves an honest conversation with whoever knows the person best.
• The stairs are too narrow for anyone else to pass. In a household where other people use the stairs constantly, a chair parked mid-flight can become a hazard of its own. Measure the remaining clear width before committing.
• A move is already being planned. A straight lift can sometimes be relocated, but not always, and rarely without cost. If a downstairs bedroom or a different house is on the table within the year, price that first.
• Everything needed is on one floor already. If the bathroom, the bedroom and the kitchen can all be arranged downstairs, that may be a better and cheaper answer than mechanising a staircase nobody needs to climb.

• Will you assess the staircase in person before quoting?

  A phone quote on a staircase nobody has measured is the origin of most surprises on installation day.

• Can the person who will use it try a chair before we order?

  Seat height, armrests and control type either suit someone or they do not. A demonstration answers in five minutes what a brochure cannot.

• What is the clear stair width once the lift is parked?

  Everyone else in the house still has to use those stairs. Ask for the number, not a reassurance.

• Does it have a folding rail, and do we need one?

  A rail that runs to the bottom step can obstruct a doorway or hallway. Folding rails solve that and cost more, so it is worth establishing whether yours is a case that needs one.

• What happens in a power cut?

  Modern lifts run on batteries that charge from the outlet, so the honest answer should be reassuring. Ask anyway, and ask how you would know if the batteries were failing.

• Who services it, how quickly do they come, and what does a call-out cost after the warranty?

  The dealer who installs is not always the one who returns. Service response is what you will care about in three years.

• If we no longer need it, will you remove it, and will you buy it back?

  Worth asking at the point of sale, when you have leverage. The answer also tells you something about how the company sees its customers.

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