The Consumer Rights Act 2015

Over the coming months we will be reporting on the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which is a major piece of legislation coming into force on 1 October 2015. The Act aims to consolidate key consumer rights in respect of contracts for goods, services, digital content and the law relating to unfair terms in consumer contracts.

The Act will also give the Civil Courts more flexibility in dealing with breaches or potential breaches of consumer law.

The Act will be in three parts, covering the following areas:-

• Consumer Contracts for Goods, Digital Content and Services;
• Unfair Terms;
• Miscellaneous Provisions, to include investigatory powers, enforcement under the Enterprise Act 2002 and various additional items such as increased duties on letting agents and higher education providers.

The Act is part of a wide scale reform to the consumer legislation framework, part of which we have already seen in the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.

In a series of forthcoming articles, we will report in more detail on each of the sections of the Act in readiness for its coming into force on 1 October 2015. In the meantime, all businesses dealing with consumers need to be aware of this shake-up in the legislation and the changes the Act will bring.

This article is for general guidance only. It provides useful information in a concise form. Action should not be taken without obtaining specific legal advice.