Consumer Rights Act 2015 Starts

Consumer Rights Act 2015 Starts.

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 came in force today, 01 October 2015.

The new act offers additional powers to consumers when they buy goods or services and covers fundamentally all industries.

What are the new rights?

Quite simply, if your goods or service are faulty then you are entitled to a full refund within 30 days.

This is the first time that a time specific "money back" guarantee has been in place to protect consumers.

Unlike consumer protection laws that were drafted in the 1970s and 1980s, the Consumer Rights Act also covers digital i.e. online services such as music and video streaming.

The "small print" is now gone.

Firms will no longer be allowed to hide their charges in the "small print", usually as part of their terms and conditions of business. Firms must now display clearly their charges in a fully understandable and plain English format.

It's in the post.

The new legislation also has repercussions for late delivery and postponed delivery. When you have ordered a good or a service and for whatever reason the delivery of the same is delayed, consumers now have the right to a full refund unless they have it in writing from the provider of the goods or services for a different delivery date that was agreed with you.

Repercussions for business.

Suppliers of goods or services need to be aware of this new legislation and make sure their service is up to scratch otherwise they face the additional administration burden of cancelling orders and issuing refunds.

Where the service or goods are "B2B” i.e. business to business, we suggest there is a risk that when a business orders goods or services they may suffer as priority is like now to switch to prioritising a consumer. The word is in the title "Consumer Rights Act" and not "Business and Consumer Rights Act".