The Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000

Made: 31st August 2000

Laid before Parliament: 1st September 2000

Coming into force: 31st October 2000

The Secretary of State, being a Minister designated[^f00001] for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972[^f00002] in relation to matters relating to consumer protection, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by section 2(2) of that Act, hereby makes the following Regulations:—

Title, commencement and extent

1

• (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 and shall come into force on 31st October 2000.

• (2) These Regulations extend to Northern Ireland.

Revocation

2

The Mail Order Transactions (Information) Order 1976[^f00003] is hereby revoked.

Interpretation

3

• (1) In these Regulations—

• “the 2000 Act” means the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000;

• “appointed representative” has the same meaning as in section 39(2) of the 2000 Act;

• “authorised person” has the same meaning as in section 31(2) of the 2000 Act;

• “breach” means contravention by a supplier of a prohibition in, or failure to comply with a requirement of, these Regulations;

• “business” includes a trade or profession;

• “CMA” means Competition and Markets Authority;

• “consumer” means any natural person who, in contracts to which these Regulations apply, is acting for purposes which are outside his business;

• “court” in relation to England and Wales and Northern Ireland means a county court or the High Court, and in relation to Scotland means the Sheriff Court or the Court of Session;

• “credit” includes a cash loan and any other form of financial accommodation, and for this purpose “cash” includes money in any form;

• ...

• “distance contract” means any contract concerning goods or services concluded between a supplier and a consumer under an organised distance sales or service provision scheme run by the supplier who, for the purpose of the contract, makes exclusive use of one or more means of distance communication up to and including the moment at which the contract is concluded;

• “EEA Agreement” means the Agreement on the European Economic Area signed at Oporto on 2 May 1992 as adjusted by the Protocol signed at Brussels on 17 March 1993[^f00004];

• “enactment” includes an enactment comprised in, or in an instrument made under, an Act of the Scottish Parliament;

• “enforcement authority” means ... every weights and measures authority in Great Britain, and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment in Northern Ireland;

• “excepted contract” means a contract such as is mentioned in regulation 5(1);

• “financial service” means any service of a banking, credit, insurance, personal pension, investment or payment nature;

• “means of distance communication” means any means which, without the simultaneous physical presence of the supplier and the consumer, may be used for the conclusion of a contract between those parties; and an indicative list of such means is contained in Schedule 1;

• “Member State” means a State which is a contracting party to the EEA Agreement;

• “operator of a means of communication” means any public or private person whose business involves making one or more means of distance communication available to suppliers;

• “period for performance” has the meaning given by regulation 19(2);

• “personal credit agreement” has the meaning given by regulation 14(8);

• “regulated activity” has the same meaning as in section 22 of the 2000 Act;

• “related credit agreement” has the meaning given by regulation 15(5);

• “supplier” means any person who, in contracts to which these Regulations apply, is acting in his commercial or professional capacity; and

• “working days” means all days other than Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays.

• (2) In the application of these Regulations to Scotland, for references to an “injunction” or an “interim injunction” there shall be substituted references to an “interdict” or an “interim interdict” respectively.

Contracts to which these Regulations apply

4

These Regulations apply, subject to regulation 6, to distance contracts other than excepted contracts.

Excepted contracts

5

• (1) The following are excepted contracts, namely any contract—

• (a) for the sale or other disposition of an interest in land except for a rental agreement;

• (b) for the construction of a building where the contract also provides for a sale or other disposition of an interest in land on which the building is constructed, except for a rental agreement;

• (c) relating to financial services...;

• (d) concluded by means of an automated vending machine or automated commercial premises;

• (e) concluded with a telecommunications operator through the use of a public pay-phone;

• (f) concluded at an auction.

• (2) References in paragraph (1) to a rental agreement—

• (a) if the land is situated in England and Wales, are references to any agreement which does not have to be made in writing (whether or not in fact made in writing) because of section 2(5)(a) of the Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989[^f00005];

• (b) if the land is situated in Scotland, are references to any agreement for the creation, transfer, variation or extinction of an interest in land, which does not have to be made in writing (whether or not in fact made in writing) as provided for in section 1(2) and (7) of the Requirements of Writing (Scotland) Act 1995[^f00006]; and

• (c) if the land is situated in Northern Ireland, are references to any agreement which is not one to which section II of the Statute of Frauds, (Ireland) 1695[^f00007] applies.

• (3) Paragraph (2) shall not be taken to mean that a rental agreement in respect of land situated outside the United Kingdom is not capable of being a distance contract to which these Regulations apply.

Contracts to which only part of these Regulations apply

6

• (1) Regulations 7 to 20 shall not apply to a contract which is a regulated contract within the meaning of the Timeshare, Holiday Products, Resale and Exchange Contracts Regulations 2010.

• (2) Regulations 7 to 19(1) shall not apply to—

• (a) contracts for the supply of food, beverages or other goods intended for everyday consumption supplied to the consumer’s residence or to his workplace by regular roundsmen; or

• (b) contracts for the provision of accommodation, transport, catering or leisure services, where the supplier undertakes, when the contract is concluded, to provide these services on a specific date or within a specific period.

• (3) Regulations 19(2) to (8) and 20 do not apply to a contract for a “package” within the meaning of the Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992[^f00009] which is sold or offered for sale in the territory of the Member States.

• (4) Regulations 7 to 14, 17 to 20 and 25 do not apply to any contract which is made, and regulation 24 does not apply to any unsolicited services which are supplied, by an authorised person where the making or performance of that contract or the supply of those services, as the case may be, constitutes or is part of a regulated activity carried on by him.

• (5) Regulations 7 to 9, 17 to 20 and 25 do not apply to any contract which is made, and regulation 24 does not apply to any unsolicited services which are supplied, by an appointed representative where the making or performance of that contract or the supply of those services, as the case may be, constitutes or is part of a regulated activity carried on by him.

Information required prior to the conclusion of the contract

7

• (1) Subject to paragraph (4), in good time prior to the conclusion of the contract the supplier shall—

• (a) provide to the consumer the following information—

• (i) the identity of the supplier and, where the contract requires payment in advance, the supplier’s address;

• (ii) a description of the main characteristics of the goods or services;

• (iii) the price of the goods or services including all taxes;

• (iv) delivery costs where appropriate;

• (v) the arrangements for payment, delivery or performance;

• (vi) the existence of a right of cancellation except in the cases referred to in regulation 13;

• (vii) the cost of using the means of distance communication where it is calculated other than at the basic rate;

• (viii) the period for which the offer or the price remains valid; and

• (ix) where appropriate, the minimum duration of the contract, in the case of contracts for the supply of goods or services to be performed permanently or recurrently;

• (b) inform the consumer if he proposes, in the event of the goods or services ordered by the consumer being unavailable, to provide substitute goods or services (as the case may be) of equivalent quality and price; and

• (c) inform the consumer that the cost of returning any such substitute goods to the supplier in the event of cancellation by the consumer would be met by the supplier.

• (2) The supplier shall ensure that the information required by paragraph (1) is provided in a clear and comprehensible manner appropriate to the means of distance communication used, with due regard in particular to the principles of good faith in commercial transactions and the principles governing the protection of those who are unable to give their consent such as minors.

• (3) Subject to paragraph (4), the supplier shall ensure that his commercial purpose is made clear when providing the information required by paragraph (1).

• (4) In the case of a telephone communication, the identity of the supplier and the commercial purpose of the call shall be made clear at the beginning of the conversation with the consumer.

Written and additional information

8

• (1) Subject to regulation 9, the supplier shall provide to the consumer in writing, or in another durable medium which is available and accessible to the consumer, the information referred to in paragraph (2), either—

• (a) prior to the conclusion of the contract, or

• (b) thereafter, in good time and in any event—

• (i) during the performance of the contract, in the case of services; and

• (ii) at the latest at the time of delivery where goods not for delivery to third parties are concerned.

• (2) The information required to be provided by paragraph (1) is—

• (a) the information set out in paragraphs (i) to (vi) of Regulation 7(1)(a);

• (b) information about the conditions and procedures for exercising the right to cancel under regulation 10, including—

• (i) where a term of the contract requires (or the supplier intends that it will require) that the consumer shall return the goods to the supplier in the event of cancellation, notification of that requirement; ...

• (ii) information as to whether the consumer or the supplier would be responsible under these Regulations for the cost of returning any goods to the supplier, or the cost of his recovering them, if the consumer cancels the contract under regulation 10;

• (iii) in the case of a contract for the supply of services, information as to how the right to cancel may be affected by the consumer agreeing to performance of the services beginning before the end of the seven working day period referred to in regulation 12;

• (c) the geographical address of the place of business of the supplier to which the consumer may address any complaints;

• (d) information about any after-sales services and guarantees; and

• (e) the conditions for exercising any contractual right to cancel the contract, where the contract is of an unspecified duration or a duration exceeding one year.

• (3) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Services performed through the use of a means of distance communication

9

• (1) Regulation 8 shall not apply to a contract for the supply of services which are performed through the use of a means of distance communication, where those services are supplied on only one occasion and are invoiced by the operator of the means of distance communication.

• (2) But the supplier shall take all necessary steps to ensure that a consumer who is a party to a contract to which paragraph (1) applies is able to obtain the supplier’s geographical address and the place of business to which the consumer may address any complaints.

Right to cancel

10

• (1) Subject to regulation 13, if within the cancellation period set out in regulations 11 and 12, the consumer gives a notice of cancellation to the supplier, or any other person previously notified by the supplier to the consumer as a person to whom notice of cancellation may be given, the notice of cancellation shall operate to cancel the contract.

• (2) Except as otherwise provided by these Regulations, the effect of a notice of cancellation is that the contract shall be treated as if it had not been made.

• (3) For the purposes of these Regulations, a notice of cancellation is a notice in writing or in another durable medium available and accessible to the supplier (or to the other person to whom it is given) which, however expressed, indicates the intention of the consumer to cancel the contract.

• (4) A notice of cancellation given under this regulation by a consumer to a supplier or other person is to be treated as having been properly given if the consumer—

• (a) leaves it at the address last known to the consumer and addressed to the supplier or other person by name (in which case it is to be taken to have been given on the day on which it was left);

• (b) sends it by post to the address last known to the consumer and addressed to the supplier or other person by name (in which case, it is to be taken to have been given on the day on which it was posted);

• (c) sends it by facsimile to the business facsimile number last known to the consumer (in which case it is to be taken to have been given on the day on which it is sent); or

• (d) sends it by electronic mail, to the business electronic mail address last known to the consumer (in which case it is to be taken to have been given on the day on which it is sent).

• (5) Where a consumer gives a notice in accordance with paragraph (4)(a) or (b) to a supplier who is a body corporate or a partnership, the notice is to be treated as having been properly given if—

• (a) in the case of a body corporate, it is left at the address of, or sent to, the secretary or clerk of that body; or

• (b) in the case of a partnership, it is left with or sent to a partner or a person having control or management of the partnership business.

Cancellation period in the case of contracts for the supply of goods

11

• (1) For the purposes of regulation 10, the cancellation period in the case of contracts for the supply of goods begins with the day on which the contract is concluded and ends as provided in paragraphs (2) to (5).

• (2) Where the supplier complies with regulation 8, the cancellation period ends on the expiry of the period of seven working days beginning with the day after the day on which the consumer receives the goods.

• (3) Where a supplier who has not complied with regulation 8 provides to the consumer the information referred to in regulation 8(2), and does so in writing or in another durable medium available and accessible to the consumer, within the period of three months beginning with the day after the day on which the consumer receives the goods, the cancellation period ends on the expiry of the period of seven working days beginning with the day after the day on which the consumer receives the information.

• (4) Where neither paragraph (2) nor (3) applies, the cancellation period ends on the expiry of the period of three months and seven working days beginning with the day after the day on which the consumer receives the goods.

• (5) In the case of contracts for goods for delivery to third parties, paragraphs (2) to (4) shall apply as if the consumer had received the goods on the day on which they were received by the third party.

Cancellation period in the case of contracts for the supply of services

12

• (1) For the purposes of regulation 10, the cancellation period in the case of contracts for the supply of services begins with the day on which the contract is concluded and ends as provided in paragraphs (2) to (4).

• (2) Where the supplier complies with regulation 8 on or before the day on which the contract is concluded, the cancellation period ends on the expiry of the period of seven working days beginning with the day after the day on which the contract is concluded.

• (3) Subject to paragraph (3A) where a supplier who has not complied with regulation 8 on or before the day on which the contract is concluded provides to the consumer the information referred to in regulation 8(2) ..., and does so in writing or in another durable medium available and accessible to the consumer, within the period of three months beginning with the day after the day on which the contract is concluded, the cancellation period ends on the expiry of the period of seven working days beginning with the day after the day on which the consumer receives the information.

• (3A) Where the performance of the contract has begun with the consumer’s agreement before the expiry of the period of seven working days beginning with the day after the day on which the contract was concluded and the supplier has not complied with regulation 8 on or before the day on which performance began, but provides to the consumer the information referred to in regulation 8(2) in good time during the performance of the contract, the cancellation period ends—

• (a) on the expiry of the period of seven working days beginning with the day after the day on which the consumer receives the information; or

• (b) if the performance of the contract is completed before the expiry of the period referred to in sub-paragraph (a), on the day when the performance of the contract is completed.