The Consumer Rights Act sets out your rights when you buy products, services and digital content.
As with the Sale of Goods Act , under the Consumer Rights Act all products must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described.
The rules also include digital content in this definition. So all products - whether physical or digital - must meet the following standards:
One aspect of a product being of satisfactory quality is durability, in other words how long it lasts.
Durability takes into account many different factors like product type, brand reputation, price point and how it is advertised. For example you're unlikely to be able to claim a cheap kettle that's stopped working after four years isn't durable. Whereas a more premium and expensive kettle that's been well looked after and has stopped working after 14 months could be considered to not be durable, and therefore not of satisfactory quality
Our experts will guide you to step by step to achieve the best outcome for you.
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make a complaint
Complain about faulty goods
What did you buy?
If what you’ve bought doesn’t satisfy any one of the three criteria outlined above, you have a claim under the Consumer Rights Act.
If you've bought a faulty product, you can read our guide, which shows you what you should do and how to make a claim.
If you want to make a claim under the Consumer Rights Act, you have several possible ways of resolving your issue, depending on the circumstances and on how you want the retailer to remedy the situation.
Your rights under the Consumer Rights Act are against the retailer – the company that sold you the product – not the manufacturer, so you must take any claim to the retailer.
What you can claim depends on how much time has passed since you physically took ownership of the goods.
The Consumer Rights Act gives you the legal right to either get a refund for goods that are of unsatisfactory quality, unfit for purpose or not as described, or get it repaired - depending on how long you've owned it:
If you'd prefer a repair or replacement in the first 30 days you can ask the retailer, but it cannot refuse to give you a refund.
The 30 day right to a refund doesn't apply to products 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. And if this isn't possible, or unsuccessful, you have the right to get a price reduction - which could be the full amount you paid.
The 30 day period is shorter for perishable goods, and will be determined by how long it is reasonable to have expected the goods to last. For example, milk would be expected to last until its use-by date, as long as it’s stored correctly.
The clock starts ticking from the date you take ownership of the goods.
For example, if you purchase your goods in store and then take them away with you, your right to a refund starts on that day.
But, if you order it in store to have it delivered later or buy it online, the clock doesn't start ticking until your goods are delivered to you.
Bear in mind that if you nominated a safe place or neighbour and your order is left there, this will be interpreted as the parcel having being delivered to you.
You have up to six years to take a claim to the small claims court for faulty goods in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and five years in Scotland.
This doesn't mean that a product has to last six years - just that you have this length of time in which to make a claim if a retailer refuses to repair or replace a faulty product.
If you bought an item online from a retailer based overseas, you still have UK consumer rights as a UK-based consumer in principle. However, in practice, this is often hard to enforce if a company is based outside of the UK due to it being difficult to hold it liable for refunds if it refuses to cooperate.
Therefore, it's always best to pay via credit card so that you have extra protection under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act .
You can state your preference, but the retailer can normally choose whichever would be cheapest or easier for it to do.
If the attempt at a repair or replacement is unsuccessful, you can then claim a refund or a price reduction if you wish to keep the product.
Beyond the first 30 days of ownership you're entitled to a full or partial refund instead of a repair or replacement if any of the following are true:
If a repair or replacement is not possible, or the attempt at repair fails, or the first replacement also turns out to be defective, you can reject the goods for a full refund.
If you don't want a refund and still want your product repaired or replaced, you have the right to request that the retailer makes further attempts at a repair or replacement.
If you discover the fault within the first six months of having the product, it is presumed to have been there since the time you took ownership of it - unless the retailer can prove otherwise.
The retailer can't make any deductions from your refund in the first six months following an unsuccessful attempt at repair or replacement.
The only exception to this rule is motor vehicles, where the retailer may make a reasonable reduction for the use you've already had of the vehicle after the first 30 days.
If a fault develops after the first six months, the burden is on you to prove that the product was faulty at the time you took ownership of it.
In practice, this may require some form of expert report, opinion or evidence of similar problems across the product range.
The Consumer Rights Act defines digital content as ‘data which are produced and supplied in digital form.’ Or, in other words:
Just like goods, digital content must be:
If digital content does not conform to these criteria, you have the right to a repair or replacement of the digital content you've bought.
But if a repair or replacement isn't possible, or doesn’t fix the situation, you can ask for a price reduction. This can be up to 100% of the cost of the digital content.
The retailer will have to compensate you if any device or other digital content you own is damaged as a result of the faulty digital content you've downloaded.
This applies where that damage would not have occurred had ‘reasonable care and skill’ been exercised in the provision of the digital content - even if that content was provided free of charge.
For goods that have a digital element, such as a smart TV or digital content supplied in a physical form, you do have a 30-day right to reject the item and get a refund.
This right applies if any part of the product, including the digital element - for example, the software on your smart TV - doesn't work properly or develops a fault.
The retailer is responsible for goods until they are in your physical possession, in the possession of someone appointed by you to accept them or delivered to your nominated safe place.
This is because your contract is with the retailer, who you bought the goods from.
So, if your goods are still undelivered and you would like to make a complaint, you should complain to the retailer - even if you think it’s down to a poor service from the courier.
If you’re in the unfortunate position to have had your parcel stolen, your rights will depend on whether you gave the retailer or courier permission to leave your parcel there.
Examples of giving permission include:
Read our delivery rights guides for more information on what to do when things go wrong, including what to do if your online order hasn't arrived .
There is a default delivery period of 30 days, during which the retailer needs to deliver unless a longer period has been agreed.
If the retailer fails to deliver within the 30 days, or on the date that has been agreed, you can do the following:
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 with no written details to the installation of solar panels, from a haircut to major building work, all these require you to enter into a contract.
Services can be provided alone or they may be provided with goods, for example, the fitting of a new kitchen.
Examples of services provided without goods include:
Examples of services provided with goods include:
If you have a contract for any of the services above, the Consumer Rights Act sets out minimum standards that apply to the service and also remedies if the trader falls short of these standards.
Minimum standards that apply include:
If the service you’re provided doesn’t satisfy these criteria, you’re entitled to the following remedies under the Consumer Rights Act:
If you pay to travel by train, coach or ferry, you’re buying a service, and it must be provided with reasonable care and skill.
If the service you’ve received falls way below the standard you’d expect, you might be entitled to claim a full or partial refund. You can also claim for consequential losses.
Use our guide to Consumer Rights Act travel amendments to find out how to claim a refund or compensation for a train, coach or ferry journey that's been provided without reasonable care and skill.
Your rights under the Consumer Rights Act make it easier to challenge hidden fees and charges.
Unless a contract term is both prominent and transparent, it can be assessed for fairness. Find out more in our guide to challenging unfair terms in contracts.
Some examples of terms that may be unfair under the Consumer Rights Act include:
If you think a contract term is unfair, you should complain to the trader.
If the trader doesn't agree, we recommend you seek legal advice before breaking the terms of the contract.
As a last resort, you could take the trader to court and the court will decide whether a term is unfair.
If the court decides that a term is unfair, you may be able to ignore the term or even cancel your contract without having to pay a cancellation fee.
