The Cancellation of Contracts made in a Consumer's Home or Place of Work etc. Regulations 2008
| Year | 2008 |
2008 No.1816
Consumer Protection
The Cancellation of Contracts made in a Consumer’s Home or Place of Work etc. Regulations 2008
Made 8th July 2008
Coming into force 1st October 2008
The Secretary of State being a Minister designated1for the purposes of section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 19722in relation to measures relating to consumer protection, in exercise of the powers conferred upon him by that section and section 59 of the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act 20073makes the following Regulations.
In accordance with section 62(3)(f) of the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007 and paragraph 2(2) of Schedule 2 to the European Communities Act 1972, a draft of this instrument was laid before Parliament and approved by resolution of each House of Parliament.
Citation and commencement
1. These Regulations may be cited as the Cancellation of Contracts made in a Consumer’s Home or Place of Work etc. Regulations 2008 and shall come into force on 1st October 2008.
Interpretation
2.—(1) In these Regulations:
“the 1974 Act” means the Consumer Credit Act 19744;
“cancellable agreement” has the same meaning as in section 189(1) of the 1974 Act;
“cancellation notice” means a notice in writing given by the consumer which indicates that he wishes to cancel the contract;
“cancellation period” means the period of 7 days starting with the date of receipt by the consumer of a notice of the right to cancel;
“consumer” means a natural person who in making a contract to which these Regulations apply is acting for purposes which can be regarded as outside his trade or profession;
“consumer credit agreement” means an agreement between the consumer and any other person by which the other person provides the consumer with credit of any amount;
“credit” includes a cash loan and any other form of financial accommodation, and for this purpose “cash” includes money in any form;
“enforcement authority” means any person mentioned in regulation 21;
“fixed sum credit” has the same meaning as in section 10(1) of the 1974 Act5;
“notice of the right to cancel” means a notice given in accordance with regulation 7;
“related credit agreement” means a consumer credit agreement under which fixed sum credit which fully or partly covers the price under a contract which may be cancelled under regulation 7 is granted—
(i) by the trader; or
(ii) by another person, under an arrangement made between that person and the trader;
“solicited visit” has the meaning given in regulation 6(3);
“specified contract” has the meaning given in regulation 9; and
“trader” means a person who, in making a contract to which these Regulations apply, is acting in his commercial or professional capacity and anyone acting in the name or on behalf of a trader.
(2) Paragraph 8(2) of Schedule 3 has effect for the purposes of paragraphs 7 and 8(1).
Consequential amendments, revocations and saving
Schedule 1 (Consequential Amendments) shall have effect.
3. Schedule 1 (Consequential Amendments) shall have effect.
4.—(1) Schedule 2 (Revocations) shall have effect.
(2) The Consumer Protection (Cancellation of Contracts Concluded away from Business Premises) Regulations 19876(“the 1987 Regulations”) shall continue to have effect in relation to a contract to which they applied before their revocation by these Regulations.
(3) These Regulations shall not apply to a contract to which the 1987 Regulations applied before their revocation.
Scope of application
5. These Regulations apply to a contract, including a consumer credit agreement, between a consumer and a trader which is for the supply of goods or services to the consumer by a trader and which is made—
(a) during a visit by the trader to the consumer’s home or place of work, or to the home of another individual;
(b) during an excursion organised by the trader away from his business premises; or
(c) after an offer made by the consumer during such a visit or excursion.
6.—(1) These Regulations do not apply to—
(a)
(a) any contracts listed in Schedule 3 (Excepted Contracts);
(b)
(b) a cancellable agreement;
(c)
(c) a consumer credit agreement which may be cancelled by the consumer in accordance with the terms of the agreement conferring upon him similar rights as if the agreement were a cancellable agreement; or
(d)
(d) a contract made during a solicited visit or a contract made after an offer made by a consumer during a solicited visit where the contract is—
(i) a regulated mortgage, home purchase plan or home reversion plan if the making or performance of such a contract constitutes a regulated activity for the purposes of the Financial Services and Markets Act 20007;
(ii) a consumer credit agreement secured on land which is—
(aa) regulated under the 1974 Act; or
(bb) to the extent that it is not regulated under the 1974 Act, exempt under that Act; or
(iii) any other consumer credit agreement regulated under the 1974 Act.
(2) Where any agreement referred to in paragraph (1)(b), (c) or (d)(iii) is a related credit agreement the provisions of regulations 11 and 12 shall apply to the cancellation of that agreement.
(3) A solicited visit means a visit by a trader, whether or not he is the trader who supplies the goods or services, to a consumer’s home or place of work or to the home of another individual, which is made at the express request of the consumer but does not include—
(a)
(a) a visit by a trader which is made after he, or a person acting in his name or on his behalf—
(i) telephones the consumer (otherwise than at the consumer’s express request) and indicates during the course of the telephone call (either expressly or by implication) that he, or the trader in whose name or on whose behalf he is acting, is willing to visit the consumer; or
(ii) visits the consumer (otherwise than at the consumer’s express request) and indicates during the course of that visit (either expressly or by implication) that he, or the trader in whose name or on whose behalf he is acting, is willing to make a subsequent visit to the consumer; or
(b)
(b) a visit during which the contract which is made relates to goods and services other than those concerning which the consumer requested the visit of the trader, provided that when the visit was requested the consumer did not know, or could not reasonably have known, that the supply of such goods or services formed part of the trader’s commercial or professional activities.
Right to cancel a contract to which these Regulations apply
7.—(1) A consumer has the right to cancel a contract to which these Regulations apply within the cancellation period.
(2) The trader must give the consumer a written notice of his right to cancel the contract and such notice must be given at the time the contract is made except in the case of a contract to which regulation 5(c) applies in which case the notice must be given at the time the offer is made by the consumer.
(3) The notice must—
(a)
(a) be dated;
(b)
(b) indicate the right of the consumer to cancel the contract within the cancellation period;
(c)
(c) be easily legible;
(d)
(d) contain—
(i) the information set out in Part I of Schedule 4; and
(ii) a cancellation form in the form set out in Part II of that Schedule provided as a detachable slip and completed by or on behalf of the trader in accordance with the notes; and
(e)
(e) indicate if applicable—
(i) that the consumer may be required to pay for the goods or services supplied if the performance of the contract has begun with his written agreement before the end of the cancellation period;
(ii) that a related credit agreement will be automatically cancelled if the contract for goods or services is cancelled.
(4) Where the contract is wholly or partly in writing the notice must be incorporated in the same document.
(5) If incorporated in the contract or another document the notice of the right to cancel must—
(a)
(a) be set out in a separate box with the heading “Notice of the Right to Cancel”; and
(b)
(b) have as much prominence as any other information in the contract or document apart from the heading and the names of the parties to the contract and any information inserted in handwriting.
(6) A contract to which these Regulations apply shall not be enforceable against the consumer unless the trader has given the consumer a notice of the right to cancel and the information required in accordance with this regulation.
Exercise of the right to cancel a contract
8.—(1) If the consumer serves a cancellation notice within the cancellation period then the contract is cancelled.
(2) A contract which is cancelled shall be treated as if it had never been entered into by the consumer except where these Regulations provide otherwise.
(3) The cancellation notice must indicate the intention of the consumer to cancel the contract and does not need to follow the form of cancellation notice set out in Part II of Schedule 4.
(4) The cancellation notice must be served on the trader or another person specified in the notice of the right to cancel as a person to whom the cancellation notice may be given.
(5) A cancellation notice sent by post is taken to have been served at the time of posting, whether or not it is actually received.
(6) Where a cancellation notice is sent by electronic mail it is taken to have been served on the day on which it is sent.
Cancellation of specified contracts commenced before expiry of the right to cancel
9.—(1) Where the consumer enters into a specified...
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