The document summarizes key UK consumer protection laws, including the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 and the Consumer Rights Act 2015. It outlines rights and obligations for distance selling, including online and telephone purchases. Consumers have 14-day cancellation periods and rights to refunds or replacements for faulty goods, unsatisfactory services, and digital content issues. Sellers must provide clear terms and pricing upfront, and cannot charge hidden fees or operate premium phone lines for customer service. The Consumer Rights Act also establishes that goods must be satisfactory quality, fit for purpose, and as described.

1. QUICK GUIDE
ChrisDunn
Nov 2019
CONSUMER
LAW

2. The Sale of Goods
Act?
What Legislation Have You Heard Of?
Before 2015, there were 12 different laws that governed the rights and
obligations of sellers and consumers
These have all been replaced by just 2. The Consumer Contracts Regulations
2013 and the Consumer Rights Act 2015
Together they simplify, strengthen and modernise the law, giving the consumer
clearer shopping rights
The Supply of
Goods
and Services Act?
Distance
Selling
Regulations?
Unfair Terms in
Consumer Contracts
Regulations?

3. UK Consumer Law
Retail
er
Your rights under the Consumer Rights Act and Contracts Regulations
are against the retailer – the company that sold you the product – not
the manufacturer, so you must take any claim to the retailer.
Shop Sales Home Sales

4. CONSUMER
CONTRACTS
REGULATIONS

5. If you buy something, without seeing it in person first, or where there is no face to face contact with the
seller, you are covered under the Consumer Contracts Regulations, as well as the Consumer Rights
Act. Below are some examples:
What are the Consumer Contracts Regulations?
Buying goods,services
or digital downloads
through websites or
smartphone apps Buying goods,services
or digital downloads
over thetelephone.
This can either be
inbound, outboundor
by textmessaging
Buying goods,services
or digital downloads
on a TVshopping
channel£’s
Sales made door to
door or by mail order
where a consumer is
buying from a
catalogue or asample
book – often called
“off-premisesales”

6. Knowing What You are Buying and Who You are Buying From
Their geographical address and contact details
A full description of the goods, services or digital content
The total price of the goods, services or digital content
How the consumer will pay for the goods, services or digital content and
when they will be provided
Additional delivery charges and other costs (no hidden charges)
Compatibility of digital content with hardware and other software
Details of who pays for the cost of returning if the consumer changes their
mind
Details of how to cancel (including provision of a standard cancellation form)
Sellers must provide

7. Sellers Must NOT:
Charge you for items they put in your online shopping basket or that you have bought as a
result of a pre-ticked box
If a company does charge you in this way, you are entitled to your money back
Operate a helpline for enquiries about goods and services already purchased by the consumer
where the phone charges for this helpline are higher than standard network rates
If a company operates a premium rate number in this way, you have the right to claim back
the surcharge from the company
Take orders for goods and services which cannot be delivered within 30 days
Unless you explicitly agree to these extended delivery terms

8. Cancellation Rights
Your right to cancel an order for goods
made at a distance starts from the
moment you place your order and
ends 14 days from the day you
receive your goods
Goods
Services
Digital
Content
Your right to cancel a service made at a
distance starts the moment you enter
into the contract and lasts 14 days
If you want to download digital content
within the 14 day cancellation period
you must agree to waive your
cancellation rights

9. Refunds and Returns for Goods
o You should get a refund within 14 days of either the seller getting the
goods back, or you providing evidence of having returned the goods
(for example, a proof of postage receipt from the post office),
whichever is the sooner
o If the seller has offered to collect the goods, they should refund you
within 14 days from the date you informed them you wanted to return
the products
o A deduction can be made if the value of the goods has been reduced
as a result of you handling the goods more than was necessary
o The extent to which you can handle the goods is the same as it
would be if you were assessing them in a shop
o The seller has to refund the basic delivery cost of getting the goods to
you in the first place (if you opted for a premium delivery service, the
seller would only need to refund you the basic delivery charge)
o The seller can make you pay for the costs of returning the item (if the
item is faulty the seller must not charge for returns)

10. Refunds for Services and Digital Content
You have 14 days from entering into a service contract in which you can cancel
If the service has already started before the 14 day cancellation period has
ended, you can cancel but may be charged for the days in which the service
was used
If the service is provided in full within 14 days the right to cancel is lost
If you want to download something within 14 days of buying it, you will have to
give your consent to waive the 14 day cancellation period
If you don’t give your consent, the 14 day cancellation period will apply, but you
won’t be able to download your digital content until this period has ended. This
is to prevent you from changing your mind after you have downloaded the
content
Once the download has been activated refunds are only available for faulty goods
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11. ➢ The Consumer Contracts Regulations deal with distance selling
➢ Because consumers are buying a product without seeing it in person first they have extra rights to return / refund
➢ The Consumer Contracts Regulations apply to goods, services and digital downloads
➢ Distance selling applies to internet, catalogue, TV shopping channels and telesales
• Sellers must provide full details on the goods and services offered including the trading entity that provides them
• Pricing, payment, delivery and cancellation must be clearly stated at the time of sale
• Pre-ticked boxes on sellers’ websites are prohibited. Up selling offers must be actively agreed to by the consumer
• Pay buttons on website check-out pages must clearly signpost the customer’s obligation to pay rather than simply ‘order’
• Goods and services must be delivered within 30 days maximum unless otherwise agreed by the consumer
• Consumers have up to 14 days to change their mind – this is called the cancellation period or cooling-off period
• If consumer chooses to cancel an order within the cooling-off period they are entitled to a full refund
• Refunds have to be made within 14 days of cancellation of service or collection/receipt of returned products
• Helplines for post purchase enquiries can only be charged at standard telephone rates

12. CONSUMER
RIGHTS
ACT 2015

13. Consumer Rights - Goods
Yours to sell
As described
Fit for the purpose intended and as described to the consumer
Of satisfactory quality
Matching the product sample shown to the consumer
When you sell goods to a consumer they must be:

14. Remedies for Goods which Infringe Your Consumer Rights
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 states that goods must be as described, fit for purpose and
of satisfactory quality. During the expected lifespan of your product you are entitled to the
following remedies:
Up to
30
days
From 6 mths
up to 6
years
If your goods are faulty, you are entitled to a full refund (the
seller may offer a repair or replacement)
If your goods can’t be repaired or replaced, you are entitled to a
full refund in most cases
From 31 days
up to 6
months
If your goods do not last a reasonable length of time, you may
be entitled to a partial refund

15. Consumer Rights - Services
Carry out the service with reasonable care and skill
Complete your work in the timescale agreed, or, if a timescale has not
been agreed, within a reasonable timescale
Honour your verbal or written commitments made when offering the
service and which may have influenced the consumer’s decision to
buy from you
Charge the price agreed with the consumer, or if a price has not been
agreed, a reasonable price
When you supply services to a consumer you must:

16. Remedies for Services which Infringe Your Consumer Rights
Remedy
1
If the service is not satisfactory, you are entitled to a repeat
service or a fix to the service already carried out
If the service cannot be repeated or repaired, you are entitled to
a discount on the service provided
If your goods do not last a reasonable length of time, you may
be entitled to a partial refund
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 states that services must be carried out with reasonable
care and skill, within a reasonable timescale and at a reasonable price
Remedy
2
NB: The repeat service must be carried in a reasonable timeframe. If a
price for the original service was not agreed up front and you consider
the price charged to be excessive you may be entitled to a discount

17. Consumer Rights – Digital Content
Yours to sell
As described
Fit for the purpose intended and as described to the consumer
Of satisfactory quality
When you supply digital content to a consumer it
must be:
NB: You may be responsible for any damage caused by your digital
content to the consumer’s hardware or other software

18. Remedies for Digital Content which Infringe your Consumer
Rights
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 states that digital content must be as described, fit for
purpose, of satisfactory quality and cause no damage to your hardware or software
If your digital content is faulty, you are entitled to a replacement
or a fix
If your digital content cannot be fixed or replaced, you are
entitled to a full or partial refund
If you can prove that the digital content damaged your hard or
software and the seller did not use reasonable care or skill,
you may be entitled to compensation
Remedy
1
Remedy
2
£’s £’s

19. Terms of Sale Must NOT Be:
Unclear
It is the seller’s responsibility to ensure that the terms of sale are clear and understandable
Unfair
The seller should not seek to impose unreasonable conditions on the sale
Unlawful
The seller cannot take away the consumer’s rights granted under the Consumer Rights Act 2015
and Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013

20. ➢ The Consumer Rights Act covers the sale of goods, services and digital content
➢ Terms & conditions of sale must be clear, fair and comply fully with the Consumer Rights Act
➢ Consumers must bring any claims against the organisation which sold the goods, services or digital content to them
➢ The Consumer Rights Act sets out the rights of the consumer and the obligations of the seller
Goods must be:
• Satisfactory quality
• Fit for purpose
• As described
The consumer has 30 days to reject goods and
obtain a full refund
Between 30 days and 6 months the consumer has
the right to a repair or replacement or a full refund
where the fault is present from first use and repair
or replacement is not possible in a timely manner
Services must be:
• Done with skill & care
• At the agreed price
• Done in a reasonable
time
The consumer can demand that the service is
performed again within a reasonable time and
without cost
If this is not possible, the consumer is entitled to a
refund of up to 100% of the price paid depending
on the shortcomings in the service provided
Digital content must be:
• Satisfactory quality
• Fit for purpose
• As described
The consumer the right to a repair or replacement
of the digital content or a refund if this is not
possible
The retailer will have to compensate you if any
device or other digital content you own is damaged
as a result of the faulty digital content you've
downloaded

21. © 2019 Chris Dunn Consulting Services Limited
Disclaimer: This short presentation is intended to
give an overview of the Consumer Contracts
Regulations 2013 and the Consumer Rights Act 2015
It does not constitute professional advice
If you are a consumer seeking further information,
please phone Citizen’s Advice on 03454 040505 or
visit the Citizen’s Advice website
If you are a business seeking further guidance,
please contact a consumer law solicitor
Chris Dunn Consulting provides the
following services in direct to consumer
markets:
• Business development
• Business change management
• Business coaching and mentoring
https://www.chrisdunnconsulting.co.uk/