Reminder – New UK Consumer Protection Rules Introduced

The Government’s new Consumer Protection (Amendment) Regulations 2014 were officially introduced yesterday and have given consumers more power to take a direct right of action against traders (i.e. a retailer or service provider) who mislead or bully them into buying a service that either isn’t what you wanted or doesn’t work as intended.

The new rules mean that consumers can now launch private civil claims against traders, which can run in parallel with enforcement action taken by the relevant industry regulator. Naturally traders can reduce their expose to this, limiting it merely to a refund, by taking the right precautions. Overall the amendments boil down to three key changes.

1. Contract Escape (Full Refunds)

Consumers will now have 90 days to cancel a contract and receive a full refund if they have been misled or bullied into agreeing it (though you might only be eligible for a smaller discount if you’ve had the goods or service for over one month). Obviously no refund will be due if the goods or service have already been fully utilised.

2. Discounts

Consumers who are unable to unwind their contract may at least still be able to claim a discount, even if outside of the above time periods, and especially if they can prove that the trader bullied or mislead them into taking the related product or service.

As Trading Standards states: “For goods and services of less than £5,000 there is a fixed-percentage discount ranging from 25% for minor issues to 100% for very serious cases. Above £5,000, if the misleading or aggressive practice led the consumer to pay more than the market price for the product, the price is reduced to the market price. Otherwise, the fixed-percentage discounts will still apply.”

3. Damages

Consumers can claim damages if they have suffered losses that exceed the price paid for goods and services. These damages can cover distress as well as economic losses suffered as a result of the prohibited practice.

A copy of the new Consumer Protection (Amendment) Regulations 2014 has been linked and Trading Standards have also uploaded quite a useful summary of all the relevant rules, both new and old alike.