Consumer Rights Act 2015 comes into force 1st October: Is your business ready?
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 comes into force in less than six months, and its important businesses understand how their responsibilities and consumer rights have changed. The new legislation will replace a number of pieces of business-to-consumer legislation, including the Sale of Goods Act 1979, and the Sale of Goods and Services Act 1982.
For the most part the law is similar to existing legislation, but changes introduced by the new Act include:
- Making it easier for consumers to understand their rights if they feel goods/services fail to do what was promised.
- Giving consumers a clear right to demand that substandard services are redone or, failing that, receive a price reduction.
- Clarifying the periods for repair, replacements and refunds consumers can expect in relation to the goods/services:
- Consumers will have a 30-day time period to return faulty goods and get a full refund.
- Consumers will be entitled to some money back after one failed repair of faulty goods (or one faulty replacement) even if more than 30 days have passed, rather than having to put up with repeated attempts to get a repair done.
- Clarifying when terms and conditions can be considered unfair. Consumers will be able to challenge terms and conditions which are not fair or are hidden in the small print.
- Simplifying the process by which small businesses can take legal action against larger companies that are breaking competition laws.
- Ensuring consumers are better protected when buying goods or services on the internet, including digital content.
For more information:
The Dept. for Business, Innovation & Skills have published draft guidance (this is likely to be updated once the legislation comes into force)
There’s also a useful article published here http://www.out-law.com/en/topics/commercial/consumer-protection/the-consumer-rights-act-consolidating-uk-consumer-protection-laws/