Consumer Rights Act 2015
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| 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. |
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| Citation | 2015 c 15 |
| Introduced by | Jo Swinson |
| Territorial extent | England and Wales; Scotland; Northern Ireland |
| Dates | |
| Royal assent | 2015 |
| Commencement | 26 March 2015 |
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Status: Current legislation
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| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Revised text of statute as amended | |
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that 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 and provisions for alternative dispute resolution (ADR) came into force on 9 July 2015 as per the EU Directive on consumer ADR. Most other provisions came into force on 1 October 2015.
The Act replaces the Sale of Goods Act, Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 and the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982, making some changes to rights to return faulty goods for refund, replacement or repair, and adding new rights on the purchase of digital content.
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 therefore provide a "modern framework of consumer rights."
Among the pieces of legislation that have been combined into the Consumer Rights Act are, most notably:
Section 2 lays out the key definitions pertinent to the Act:
The Act requires goods to be:
Previously defective goods had to be rejected within a 'reasonable period' but now consumers have a minimum of 30 days in which they can reject goods that fail to conform to the contract.
Digital content includes not only content that is supplied for a price but also freemium software. The requirements are identical to those of goods, stated above. 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. Consumers may also pursue other traditional remedies such as damages and specific performance.
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