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 08 August 2007
Confident Consumers - A Fair Deal creating Prosperity & Success for All
 
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Doorstep Selling

The Consumer Protection (Cancellation of Contracts Concluded Away from Business Premises) Regulations 1987 provide consumers with a seven-day cooling off period when they agree to buy goods or services worth more than £35 from a trader during an unsolicited visit to their home.

The Government will be extending this protection to solicited visits (via the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act) and will also require notice of cancellation to be provided within contracts.

Following the OFT's report on their study of doorstep selling (May 2004), the Government publicly consulted (from July to November 2004) on the measures recommended by the OFT to better protect consumers from salespersons in the home. We published a Statistical Summary of the Responses in October 2005.

In November 2005 we held a stakeholder event where we sought comments on the implications of both the EC Directive on Unfair Commercial Practices and the Consumer Strategy on the OFT's recommendations. In March 2005 officials wrote to key stakeholders, who attended the November event, seeking their views on the suggested way forward.

In September 2006 the Government announced its response to the public consultation. The response took into account the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and the Consumer Strategy. The Government response says we will:

a) extend to solicited visits, the cancellation rights and cooling-off period that consumers currently enjoy for unsolicited visits;
b) require cancellation notices to be provided within contracts; and
c) encourage greater transparency on prices and greater willingness to provide written quotes.

The first measure (a) requires primary legislation, and is included in the Consumers, Estate Agents and Redress Act (which received Royal Assent on 19 July 2007). We intend to consult on the draft statutory instruments (Regulations) which would implement options a) and b) later this year, and are aiming to implement the revised Regulations in 2008. For further information on the Act please follow the link in the menus.

The third measure (c) is being taken forward through industry self-regulation, by encouraging traders to operate under Codes of Practice that have been approved under the Office of Fair Trading's Consumer Codes Approval Scheme, or for the building and construction trades through participation in TrustMark www.trustmark.org.uk

For further information on the OFT Scheme please visit their website www.oft.gov.uk/advice_and_resources/publications/approved_codes/

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