DLF’s supplier rating explained

When suppliers of products are listed on our website we give them a rating. This is based on the standards a supplier meets and is used as a way to indicate those suppliers who may provide a better customer service.

The supplier rating takes into account criteria such as suppliers' membership of a trade association with a Code of Practice that governs customer service. We give greater weighting to suppliers who are members of trade associations with Codes of Practice which are approved by an external accreditation organisation or if they are a charity governed by the Charity Commission. The suppliers' adherence to the ISO 9000 series of standards is also considered.

In addition, we take into consideration how frequently suppliers update their product details on our database. We feel that those companies who provide up to date information about their products should be rewarded for their commitment to making information accessible to the public.

When products are listed on our website we give them a rating. This is based on the standards a supplier meets and the quality of product information provided (see below).

Products have not been tested by DLF, therefore the rating is not an indication of the quality of the product. We encourage those who have used the products listed to post a review on Living made easy. Supplier standards

This rating focuses on the suppliers of the product. It takes into account criteria such as suppliers' membership of a trade association with a code of practice that governs customer service.

We give greater weighting to trade associations with codes of practice which are approved by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) (e.g. the British Healthcare Trade Association's Code of Practice) or governed by an audit scheme which meets the requirements of the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) (e.g. The Telecare Services' Association (TSA)).

The suppliers' adherence to the ISO 13485 or 9000 series of standards is also considered and how recently they have updated their product details on our database. Information quality

This rating indicates the comprehensiveness of the information supplied to us on each product. This includes the provision of an image of the product, whether the supplier has told us who manufactures the product, whether the manufacturer has provided a description and whether a price has been provided. The rating is increased if the supplier regularly checks their product details on our self serve system, if they provide a web address to their website and their web address specific to the product.

We feel that those companies who provide the most information about their products should be rewarded for their transparency. We particularly hope to encourage suppliers to be more up-front about their pricing.