How the escrow and network protect customers

Customers are protected by two structural features of the platform — the payment escrow and the builder network — rather than by a separate Beams payout. The customer-side article When Beams covers costs is the main source; this article describes the same mechanics from your side.

How the escrow works

Customer funds for the construction phase are held in the Beams Account (via the platform's payment provider) and are only released to you when a milestone is approved. If you don't complete the work required for a milestone, the customer's funds remain on the platform — they haven't been released and they don't disappear.

What happens if a builder can't continue

If you're no longer able to complete the project — insolvency, dissolution, removal from the network, or a sustained breakdown — the customer can appoint another builder from the Beams network to finish the work. The funds held on the platform are available to pay that replacement builder. There's no separate Beams payout and no Beams contribution figure: the protection comes from the escrowed funds plus the network of builders who can pick up the job.

Workmanship warranty survives

Your 12-month workmanship warranty under the Home Improvement Contract (HIC) is binding regardless of whether you remain on the network. If you leave, you remain liable for warranty claims that arise on projects you completed. The article Cancelling your Beams membership covers what this means in practice.

From your side — disputed payment

If you believe you've completed the work for a milestone and the customer is refusing to release payment, the in-platform path is to engage with the dispute process (the article Disputed milestones covers it) and to involve your build advisor. If that doesn't produce a resolution, your formal remedy is to pursue payment through the courts of England and Wales, per the law and jurisdiction clause in the HIC. The escrow sits in the platform's payment provider; it isn't held by Beams as a debt that we choose whether to release.

What this means for you

The protection for customers isn't a Beams subsidy — it's the structural fact that you only get paid milestone by milestone, against work that's been approved. Complete the work, evidence the milestone, get paid. The escrow makes the platform credible to customers and gives them somewhere to turn if a builder doesn't continue. It does not weaken your right to be paid for work you've actually done.

The 12-month workmanship warranty
Removal — the process and what triggers it
Disputed milestones