Have we lost the right to returns for values under £42 since Brexit?

someonewhobuysthingsonline

Hi all,

I'm confused about something written on the money saving expert website and the gov.uk website and wondered if anyone has a legal background and knows this.

On the money saving expert website it says:
"When do I have the right to cancel? The Consumer Contracts Regulations apply to contracts for goods or services (including digital content) of any value ordered from an EU-based business via mail order, phone or online. You're also protected if buying something costing more than £42 away from a normal seller's premises (usually at your home or work)."

Do items have to have a value exceeding £42 to being able to get returns from online shopping or should you be able to get returns on items of any value (provided it's not a custom item, a cd, digital content, hygienic reasons etc)? The article from Money Saving Expert was updated on August 2022 so you'd expect it to be up to date with legislation that's happened since Brexit. The phrasing is ambiguous. It sounds like the £42 is an additional right, but since we aren't in the EU anymore it might be the only right we have now? It's hard to tell. I don't find the gov.uk site any less ambiguous either. Do we have any legal experts in the house who are familiar with this bit of consumer rights?

I'd post the links to the money saving expert page and the gov uk page but I'm not allowed to post links because I'm a forum newbie so it rejected my post sadly based on the links.

someonewhobuysthingsonline

Oh, in case my post wasn't clear (doesn't look like i can edit). I'm specifically looking at online shopping.

molerat

You can put a web address in plain text without the www so "forums.moneysavingexpert.com" for example

someonewhobuysthingsonline

Thank you @molerat!

The gov.uk websites it was referring to:
gov.uk/accepting-returns-and-giving-refunds
gov.uk/online-and-distance-selling-for-businesses

And the money saving expert page i was referring to:
moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/consumer-rights-refunds-exchange/#web

powerful_Rogue

Are you talking about buying somthing from a UK buisness or an EU business?

someonewhobuysthingsonline

@powerful_Rogue I'm talking about buying something from a UK business

eskbanker

someonewhobuysthingsonline said:

Do items have to have a value exceeding £42 to being able to get returns from online shopping or should you be able to get returns on items of any value (provided it's not a custom item, a cd, digital content, hygienic reasons etc)?

Items have to be valued at over £42 in order for the purchaser to have the unilateral right to cancel (i.e. change of mind, etc), but returns are still possible if purchases are faulty, not as described, etc.  Nothing's changed since Brexit, it's specified in part 3 (governing the right to cancel) of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, subsection 27(3) to be precise:

This Part does not apply to off-premises contracts under which the payment to be made by the consumer is not more than £42.

Manxman_in_exile

someonewhobuysthingsonline said:

Oh, in case my post wasn't clear (doesn't look like i can edit). I'm specifically looking at online shopping.

As I understand it the £42 minimum limit only applies to online purchases if they are also made off-premises.  (See Regulation 27(3) referred to above by @eskbanker).

It is extremely unlikely that a "normal" online purchase will qualify as being off-premises.

The Regulations referred to by @eskbanker define an "off-premises" contract as follows:

“off-premises contract” means a contract between a trader and a consumer which is any of these—

(a)  a contract concluded in the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer, in a place which is not the business premises of the trader;

(b)  a contract for which an offer was made by the consumer in the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer, in a place which is not the business premises of the trader;

(c) contract concluded on the business premises of the trader or through any means of distance communication immediately after the consumer was personally and individually addressed in a place which is not the business premises of the trader in the simultaneous physical presence of the trader and the consumer;

(d)  a contract concluded during an excursion organised by the trader with the aim or effect of promoting and selling goods or services to the consumer

See regulation 5 "Other Definitions"

Manxman_in_exile

Further to my post above I'd have to say that the MSE article the OP refers to is rather confusingly set out and doesn't make it clear that the £42 limit doesn't apply if you are making a "normal" online purchase from home.  The reference to £42 comes under the main sub-heading "Buying online, via mail order or from home"

It could be set out and worded much more clearly...

Buying online, via mail order or from home

On top of all the other protections described above, there are major advantages to buying online, via mail order, or simply from home. Thanks to the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, in most cases you have the right to cancel your order and get a refund – even if you've just changed your mind.

When do I have the right to cancel?

The Consumer Contracts Regulations apply to contracts for goods or services (including digital content) of any value ordered from an EU-based business via mail order, phone or online. You're also protected if buying something costing more than £42 away from a normal seller's premises (usually at your home or work).

Consumer rights & protection: get money back - MSE (moneysavingexpert.com)

someonewhobuysthingsonline

Thank you both @eskbanker and @Manxman_in_exile  - that's really interesting. I think it's the "EU-based business" bit in the MSE website that's also particularly confusing at this point since UK businesses would not be EU-based at this point and so it's unclear if that's meant to be a limiting factor to one's rights as they explain it, but I assumed that was pre-Brexit content that had not been updated regardless of the "last updated date". My general understanding was that the UK was still following most consumer rights as before - but because I'm not an expert I did want to check as a change from the last year might have passed me by. 

I also assumed that the £42 thing would be more widely publicised if this was a general limitation on returns for any reason, so it's good to hear that this only applies to a very specific situation.

Manxman_in_exile

I think the reference to EU-based businesses is simply intended to mean that as the UK regulations (and therefore cancellation right) are based on a EU directive that has been adopted by all EU states, then each EU state should offer consumers the same level of protection as across the rest of the EU.  Thus if a UK consumer makes a distance purchase from a EU state, that UK consumer should have the same right to cancel under that EU state's consumer law as they do under UK law.  (At least that's what's supposed to happen...)

It's got nothing to do with whether UK comapanies are EU-based or not.  It's all about the protection given to UK consumers when buying from companies outside the UK but based in the EU.

The UK leaving the EU hasn't affected that.  (At least it's not meant to have...)

Going back to the question you originally asked, the right to cancel applies to both distance contracts and off-premises contracts.  Distance contracts have no minimum value, but you can only cancel an off-premises contract if you have to pay more than £42 under it.  I have absolutely no idea why...