The Cancellation of Contracts made in a Consumer's Home or Place of Work etc. Regulations 2008

UK Statutory Instrument 2008 No. 1816 — creates 3 criminal offences.

3offences created

0recorded in force

0revoked

Made: 8 July 2008
In force from: 1 October 2008
Extent: Not stated
Subject: Food, consumer protection, trading standards, product safety and age-restricted sales
Made under: Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007, European Communities Act 1972, Schedule 2 to, the European Communities Act 1972

Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations) — published with the instrument by the department that made it. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

These Regulations give cancellation rights in respect of a contract for goods or services made during a visit by a trader to a consumer’s home or place of work or on an excursion organised by the trader. They revoke the Cancellation of Contracts Concluded away from Business Premises Regulations 1987 and re-implement Council Directive 85/577/EEC (“the Directive”) to protect the consumer in respect of contracts negotiated away from business premises. The Directive provides cancellation rights for contracts made in similar circumstances during an unsolicited visit by a trader. Regulations 5 and 6 set out the circumstances in which the consumer has a right to cancel the contract. The Regulations do not apply to excepted contracts set out in Schedule 3. Regulation 7 provides for the right to cancel a contract and sets out the requirements of a notice of the right to cancel. Schedule 4 sets out the information to be contained in a notice of the right to cancel including a form of cancellation notice for use by the consumer in cancelling the contract. Regulation 8 sets out the requirements for a consumer wishing to exercise his right to cancel the contract. Regulation 9 provides for payment to be made in respect of certain contracts when goods or services are received before cancellation. Regulations 10, 12, 13 and 14 provide for the consequences of cancellation and the obligations and rights of the parties in these circumstances. Regulation 11 provides for the automatic cancellation of a consumer credit agreement entered into at the same time as a contract for goods or services when the contract for goods or services is cancelled. Regulation 15 protects the rights of consumers by providing that any term in a contract that is inconsistent with a provision for the protection of a consumer under the Regulations is void. Regulations 17 to 23 relate to enforcement of these Regulations. Regulation 17 provides that it is an offence for a trader to enter a contract to which these Regulations apply without complying with the requirements of regulation 7 relating to the service of notice of the right to cancel. A person guilty of such an offence is liable on summary conviction to a fine of up to £5,000. A transposition note and an impact assessment of the effect that these Regulations will have on the costs to business and the voluntary sector are available from the Consumer and Competition Policy Directorate, Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET or on the BERR website (www.berr.gov.uk). They are also annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside the Regulations on the OPSI website. Copies of the impact assessment and transposition note have also been placed in the libraries of both Houses of Parliament.

Offences created by this instrument

A trader is guilty of an offence if he enters into a contract to which these Regulations apply but fails to give the… regulation 17(1) · Status not determined · Strict liability
Obstruction of authorised officers regulation 23(1) · Status not determined · Requires proof of a state of mind
Obstruction of authorised officers regulation 23(2) · Status not determined · Strict liability

What Parliament said about it

Contributions, debates and written statements mentioning this instrument by name. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

Cancellation of Contracts made in a Consumer’s Home or Place of Work etc. Regulations 2008 Lords · Lords Chamber · 26 June 2008
Cancellation of Contracts made in a Consumer’s Home or Place of Work etc. Regulations 2008 Lords · Grand Committee · 2 July 2008 · The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (Baroness Vadera)
rose to move, That the Grand Committee do report to the House that it has considered the Cancellation of Contracts made in a Consumer’s Home or Place of Work etc. Regulations 2008. The noble Baroness said: We propose that these new regulations shall replace the current regulations, the Consumer Protection (Cancellation of Contracts Concluded away from Business Premises) Regulations 1987 under the vires of the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act 2007 and Section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972. The purpose of the proposed new regulations is to extend to solicited visits the…
Cancellation of Contracts made in a Consumer’s Home or Place of Work etc. Regulations 2008 Lords · Grand Committee · 2 July 2008
Cancellation of Contracts made in a Consumer’s Home or Place of Work etc. Regulations 2008 Lords · Lords Chamber · 7 July 2008
Unscrupulous Builders Commons · Westminster Hall · 9 February 2011 · The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills (Mr Edward Davey)
I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Eastbourne (Stephen Lloyd) on securing the debate. I thank all hon. Members for contributing. Listening to my hon. Friends the Members for Ceredigion (Mr Williams) and for St Austell and Newquay (Stephen Gilbert) in particular, it was clear that this issue affects many of our constituents. I can confirm that it has affected my constituents. I represented one of my own members of staff on this issue. She ended up having to use the TV programme dealing with cowboy builders to sort out the problem. Through dealing with that, I understood how…
Loft Conversions Commons · Westminster Hall · 2 November 2011 · Mr Davey
From the way in which my hon. Friend has articulated his constituent’s case, it is clear that his constituent is a very capable lady who can fight her corner. However, I am sure that he accepts the point that we need to ensure that vulnerable consumers are protected in the regimes that we design, because if can protect vulnerable consumers, we are much more likely also to support those who are more articulate. We must take a multi-pronged approach to protecting consumers in the broadest sense. The new Government have taken an approach that seeks to empower the consumer and make sure that…
Consumer Rights Bill Lords · Lords Chamber · 19 November 2014 · Lord Moynihan
My Lords, one again I thank my noble friend the Minister for the time she has taken on this issue, for the hours of meetings and the consultation she has undergone. I also thank all noble Lords who have spoken in this debate. A number of my noble friends believe there may be existing recourse under, for example, the Cancellation of Contracts made in a Consumer’s Home or Place of Work etc. Regulations 2008, which my noble friend mentioned. No one can genuinely believe that that is a reasonable remedy for a true sports fan who has gone to Gleneagles to see the Ryder Cup and has been sent home…

How Parliament handled it

Parliament's Statutory Instruments service records procedure from May 2017 onwards, and this instrument predates it. That is a limit of the source, not a statement that nothing happened.

Check the source

This instrument on legislation.gov.uk The authoritative text, including amendments made since
Other instruments from 2008