| Short Title: | Consumer Rights Act 2015 |
| Type: | Act |
| Parliament: | Parliament of the United Kingdom |
| Long Title: | An Act to amend the law relating to the rights of consumers and protection of their interests; to make provision about investigatory powers for enforcing the regulation of traders; to make provision about private actions in competition law and the Competition Appeal Tribunal; and for connected purposes. |
| Statute Book Chapter: | 2015 c. 15 |
| Introduced Commons: | Jo Swinson |
| Introduced Lords: | Viscount Younger of Leckie |
| Territorial Extent: |
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| Royal Assent: | 26 March 2015 |
| Commencement: | 26 March 2015 |
| Status: | Current |
| Original Text: | http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/contents/enacted |
| Revised Text: | http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/contents |
The Consumer Rights Act 2015[1] (c. 15) is an act of Parliament of the United Kingdom which consolidates existing consumer protection law legislation and also gives consumers a number of new rights and remedies. Provisions for secondary ticketing and lettings came into force on 27 May 2015,[2] and provisions for alternative dispute resolution (ADR) came into force on 9 July 2015 as per the EU Directive on consumer ADR.[3] Most other provisions came into force on 1 October 2015.[4]
In respect of contracts under which a trader provides goods or services to a consumer, the Act replaces the Sale of Goods Act, Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 and the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982,[5] making some changes to rights to return faulty goods for refund, replacement or repair, and adding new rights on the purchase of digital content.[6]
The Act is split into three parts:
The Act was introduced to parliament by Jo Swinson MP, then parliamentary under-Secretary in the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, on 23 January 2014 with the aim of consolidating and updating consumer protection law and to thereby provide a "modern framework of consumer rights."[7]
Among the pieces of legislation that have been combined into the Consumer Rights Act, the most notable are the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 and the consumer law elements of:
Section 2 lays out the key definitions pertinent to the Act:[9]
The Act requires goods to be:
Previously, defective goods had to be rejected within a 'reasonable period', but the Act now gives consumers a minimum of 30 days in which they can reject goods that fail to conform to the contract.[13] After that period, the consumer has varying rights including the right to repair or replacement, at the seller's election.
The addition of a chapter covering digital content is considered one of the "most significant" changes in the Act. Digital content includes not only content that is supplied for a price, but also freemium software.[14] The requirements are identical to those which apply to goods, stated above.[15] The main difference is that there is no right to reject digital content, but rather the remedies include the right to repair or replacement, the right to a price reduction and the right to a refund.[15] The trader is now liable for damage caused to a device by supplied digital content where they fail to exercise reasonable care and skill.[16] Consumers may also pursue other traditional remedies such as damages and specific performance.
Services provided by traders must be performed with "reasonable care and skill",[17] and "within a reasonable time".[18]
The Act also ensures that any statement a trader makes when a consumer is either deciding to enter into the contract or making a decision about the service after entering into the contract is now a binding contractual term. Previously such terms may only have given rise to an action in the tort of misrepresentation but now a claim may be brought for breach of contract.[19] This means that a claimant's case will generally be easier to prove and expectation damages may be awarded rather than compensation based on the principle of restitutio ad integrum.[20]
On top of the usual remedies consumers now also have the right to repeat performance[21] or (as a fall-back) to a price reduction of an appropriate amount.[22]
The definition of an 'unfair term' remains the same as that originally outlined in the Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977; i.e. a term is unfair if, "contrary to the requirement of good faith, it causes a significant imbalance in the parties' rights and obligations under the contract to the detriment of the consumer."[23] However, terms that express the main subject matter of the contract are not subject to this fairness test, provided that such terms are both transparent and prominent in the contract.[24]
The Act also adds to the so-called 'grey list' that lists a non-exhaustive range of terms which are, in most cases, likely to be considered unfair by the courts.[25] These include:
Section 71, reflecting existing European Union case law, places a duty on the court to consider the fairness of contractual terms, if there is enough information to make this feasible, even where none of the parties raises the issue.[26] The relevant cases heard by the European Court of Justice are case C-168/05 (Mostaza Claro, 2006), case C-243/08 (Pannon 2009), and case C-137/08 (VB Penzugyi v Schneider, 2010).[27]
Schedule 8 amends the Competition Act 1998 and greatly expands the jurisdiction of the Competition Appeal Tribunal, to the extent that it now has similar powers to the High Court. The Act also now provides for collective proceedings, a form of class action, on an 'opt-out' basis on top of the present 'opt-in' system.[28] [29] There is also now a statutory scheme of voluntary redress in competition law, a form of ADR.[30]
Letting agents are under a duty to display a list of fees in each of their offices in a prominent position. Such a list must include:
The notice must also indicate that the agent is part of a redress scheme, and give its name.[31]
Anyone reselling tickets for an event must give the following information:[32]
The event organiser may not cancel a ticket or blacklist a seller for reselling the ticket unless this right is contained within the original terms of the ticket.[33]
The official position is that it was hoped that by consolidating existing legislation the new Act would simplify consumer protection law for both consumers and businesses.[34] Also, the government predicted that the Act would "boost the economy by £4 billion" over the course of the following decade.[35]