Business Development - Consumer Protection

Lawyers Kenneth Mullen and James Neal of Withers tell you what you need to know about the new Consumer Rights Act

On 1 October 2015 the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (the 'CRA') came into force, consolidating laws regulating consumer sales and introducing further changes to consumer rights that will impact online and offline retailers as well as their customers.

Background to the CRA

Recent years have seen a quiet revolution in UK consumer rights, with the scope of protections and remedies available to consumers gradually increased as new legislation has been brought into force.

However, because new legislation has been introduced in a piecemeal fashion, the result has been that UK consumer rights are governed across a multitude of complex laws. This has arguably caused widespread confusion for consumers, who have been unclear as to what their rights are, and caused difficulties for retailers, who have been required to ensure that contracts and sales procedures comply with each new piece of legislation.