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Doorstep Selling Fact Sheet

On 1 October 2008 the ‘Cancellation of Contracts Made in a Consumer’s Home or Place of Work etc Regulations 2008’ (the Regulations) came into force. The Regulations are aimed at traders who enter into a contract with a consumer at their home, workplace or on an excursion arranged by the vendor away from his business premises.

The Regulations extend the law on cooling-off periods and cancellation rights for consumers. They cover contracts that are made during both solicited and unsolicited visits by traders.

Key Facts

The Regulations:

• Replace the ‘Consumer Protection (Cancellation of Contracts Concluded away from Business Premises) Regulations 1987;

• Extend the cooling-off period and right to cancel certain contracts made during a solicited visit by a trader;

• Set the threshold at which the Regulations apply at a total payment value of £35 for contracts made as a result of either unsolicited or solicited visits by traders;

• Set the cooling off period at 7 calendar days both for contracts made as a result of unsolicited visits by traders and for contracts made as a result of solicited visits by traders;

• Make clear that the cooling off period starts on the day of receipt of a notice of the right to cancel from a trader;

• Require that the notice of the right to cancel be prominently displayed in the same document, where the contract is completed wholly or partly in writing;

• Require that the consumer must record his agreement in writing to performance of certain specified contracts beginning before the end of the cooling off period if that is what the parties propose;

• Require that where a consumer has agreed to performance of a specified contract beginning before the end of the cooling off period, the trader must include in the notice of the right to cancel, a statement that payment may be required to be made if the contract is subsequently cancelled;

• Provide that failure to include such a statement (as required in the paragraph above) in the notice of the right to cancel will constitute an offence, at level 5 of the standard scale, relating to failure to provide notice of the right to cancel;

• Extend the scope of the Regulations to apply to extensions, conservatories, patios, and driveways; and

• Provide for the automatic cancellation of a related credit agreement where a cancellation notice which cancels a contract for goods or services is served on a trader.

Relevant or Related Legislation:

• Cancellation of Contracts Made in a Consumer’s Home or Place of Work etc. Regulations 2008

• The Consumer Protection (Cancellation of Contracts Concluded away from Business Premises) Regulations 1987.

• The Consumer Protection (Cancellation of Contracts Concluded away from Business Premises) (Amendment) Regulations 1988.

• The Consumer Protection (Cancellation of Contracts Concluded away from Business Premises) (Amendment) Regulations 1998.

These are more commonly known as the 'Doorstep Selling Regulations'.