The Consumer Rights Act 2015

Since coming into force on the 1^st October 2015, the Consumer Rights Act (“CRA”) has replaced three major pieces of legislation:

• The Sale of Goods Act 1979
• The Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982
• Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999

The Consumer Rights Act now sets out your rights in relation to products, services and digital content that you have purchased on or after October 1^st 2015.

What contracts does the Consumer Rights Act cover?

The CRA covers contacts between a trader and a consumer for either:

1. The sale of goods, or;
2. The supply of services.

What is a trader and what is a consumer?

Under the CRA, you are a “trader” if you are acting for purposes relating to your trade, business, craft or profession, whether you are acting personally or through another person acting in the trader’s name or on the trader’s behalf.

The CRA defines a “consumer” as an individual. An individual is a consumer if he is acting for purposes that are wholly or mainly outside his trade, business, craft or profession.

What are your rights under the Consumer Rights Act?

Goods

As with the Sale of Goods Act 1979, under the CRA all products must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described. This also applies to digital content.

So, all products – whether physical or digital – must be:

• Fit for purpose  The goods should be fit for the purpose they are supplied for, as well as any specific purpose you made known to the retailer before you agreed to buy the goods.
• As described  The goods supplied must match any description given to you, or any models or samples shown to you at the time of purchase.
• Satisfactory quality  Goods shouldn’t be faulty or damaged when you receive them. You should ask what a reasonable person would consider satisfactory for the goods in question. For the purposes of satisfactory quality, you must also consider the durability of the goods.

Services

The term ‘service’ covers a wide variety of services including large and small-scale work you might have carried out in your home or elsewhere.

From a small repair job on a vehicle to major building work, where the contract is for the supply of a service/services, under the CRA, the contract must meet the following minimum standards:

• Reasonable care and skill The trader should perform the contacted service/services with reasonable care and skill.
• Binding Any information which is provided either orally or in writing is binding where the consumer relies on it.
• Reasonable price Where the price of the contracted service/services is not agreed upon  beforehand, the trader must provide the service for a reasonable price.
• Reasonable time Unless a particular timescale for performing the service is agreed, the trader should carry out the service within a reasonable period of time.

So, what are my remedies?

Defective or Faulty Goods

If the goods that you have received are of unsatisfactory quality, unfit for purpose or not as described, the Consumer Rights Act gives you the legal right to either get a refund for those goods or get the goods repaired, depending on how long you’ve owned them.

If you have owned the goods for 0 – 30 days you can claim a full refund for goods that are of unsatisfactory quality, unfit for purpose or not as described. If you’d prefer a repair or replacement of the goods within the first 30 days then you can ask the retailer for such, but they cannot refuse to give you a refund.

If, however you have owned the goods for 30 days – six months you must give the retailer one opportunity to repair or replace the good(s) before you can claim a refund.

Alternatively, if you have owned the goods for six months or more you must give the retailer one opportunity to repair or replace it before you can claim a partial refund, and the burden of proof is on you to prove that the product is faulty.

The 30 day right to a refund doesn’t extend to products that you’ve bought as downloads – such as music, games or apps. You can, however, ask for a digital product to be repaired or replaced if it develops a fault. If a repair or replacement isn’t possible, or is unsuccessful, you have the right to get a price reduction – which could be the full amount that you paid.

Substandard Services

If the service you’re been provided doesn’t satisfy the CRA’s minimum standards, you’re entitled to the following:

• The trader should either redo the element of the service that’s inadequate, or perform the whole service again at no extra cost to you, within a reasonable time and without causing you significant inconvenience.
• Or, in circumstances where the repeat performance is impossible, or can’t be done within a reasonable time or without causing significant inconvenience, you can claim a price reduction. Depending on how severe the failings are, this could be up to 100% of the cost, and the trader should refund you within 14 days of agreeing that you’re entitled to a refund.

How can we help?

Martyn Prowel Solicitors has a very experienced team of solicitors with extensive expertise in a broad range of contract disputes. If you have a concern about goods or services which you have purchased recently, contact our team today by calling us on 029 2047 0909 or by emailing us at [email protected] or by making an online enquiry.