All businesses which deal with consumers needs to be aware of the changes to the law which are coming into force on 1st October 2015. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 (Act) brings in some key changes to consumer protection legislation and also consolidates the law in one statute. The hope is that it will make the law easier to understand for both businesses and consumers.
 

Over the next few months we’ll be posting updates on the Act and letting you know what steps you need to take to prepare for the change in the law. If you sell to consumers then you should update your terms of business and sales processes to ensure that they comply with the new rules.
 

The key changes in the Act are:

• The customer will have a 30 day right to reject faulty goods and obtain a full refund;
• The trader can only repair or replace the goods once and if they are still faulty then the customer can request a refund;
•  If a service is not provided with reasonable skill or care or to the standard set out in the contract, the customer can require the trader to repeat the service
• Giving purchasers of digital content (e.g. software, apps, music, ebooks etc.) standards as to quality and remedies if the digital content is not satisfactory;
• A new remedy where digital content damages a device;
• Updates to unfair terms legislation which will now apply to all consumer contracts including ones which have been negotiated and which extend the category of terms which are potentially unfair.