14 days cooling off electric rewire

blackstar

Hi all

On Wednesday I signed terms and conditions contract with a electrical company to rewire my property.
They had no agreed a specific date to start exactly other than in 2 weeks roughly.
I paid them 50% already for the quote.
Due to certain reasons I won't go into I had to cancel this job yesterday (thursday) no work at started at all.
I emailed them using a template on Consumer rights ie

The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 state that if I wish to do so I can cancel the order within 14 days of it having been placed. 

I have read the contract I signed and the only thing that worries me is 13.4? Can anyone elaborate on this for me? What if they say they have ordered products and equipment for the job and try and keep the 50% I have paid or even try to get the full contract price from me?

Also part 2.5 which I don't really understand and how it can relate in my situation?

Hope someone can help please?

Thanks all

Kim_13

It's going to hinge on whether "two weeks roughly" is taken as you requesting that work commence within the cancellation period and therefore being deemed have to waived your right to cancel per 13.1, I think.

(And whether a court views that as fair, if it comes to that.)

I read 2.5 as an agreed cancellation when the 14 day period is not available. Hopefully that won't be the case, but you'll have to see what they come back with and take it from there. Be persistent if they don't answer within a few days - some traders would probably try to time out the 14 days and you may then end up having to argue in court that you had made a valid request to cancel within 14 days.  

RefluentBeans

They can keep money for products that have ordered specifically for your project. There’s a lot of variables that can affect this, but if you live in a relatively normally sized house; I wouldn’t worry. If they’ve ordered copper wiring, and a standard RCD box then they can be reused (and they probably have stock of these anyway). The only difference will be if your project is large and requires more unique materials - like a lager than standard RCD box/multiple boxes/a lot of cable. 

In any case they can keep only the cost of these materials, and not the labour hours that it would have cost, and not the profit they’d have made. 

I appreciate it’s nerve wracking when you cancel a big project but I’d just wait and see what they come back with (as they haven’t yet said they’re keeping anything) - and take it from there. If they’re a legitimate business with experience (which those terms makes me think they probably are) then they’ll likely have dealt with similar before and know the rules. 

blackstar

Doesn't sound very positive at all I mean I canceled less than less than 24 hours after  making the contract aswell

Work was agreed to commence thr week beginning  April 15th 2024 (unless of a cancellation) 

blackstar

RefluentBeans said:

They can keep money for products that have ordered specifically for your project. There’s a lot of variables that can affect this, but if you live in a relatively normally sized house; I wouldn’t worry. If they’ve ordered copper wiring, and a standard RCD box then they can be reused (and they probably have stock of these anyway). The only difference will be if your project is large and requires more unique materials - like a lager than standard RCD box/multiple boxes/a lot of cable. 

In any case they can keep only the cost of these materials, and not the labour hours that it would have cost, and not the profit they’d have made. 

I appreciate it’s nerve wracking when you cancel a big project but I’d just wait and see what they come back with (as they haven’t yet said they’re keeping anything) - and take it from there. If they’re a legitimate business with experience (which those terms makes me think they probably are) then they’ll likely have dealt with similar before and know the rules. 

Thanks for that. 
Yes very nerve-wracking. 
Wpuld you be optimistic for me in this case?

RefluentBeans

blackstar said:

RefluentBeans said:

They can keep money for products that have ordered specifically for your project. There’s a lot of variables that can affect this, but if you live in a relatively normally sized house; I wouldn’t worry. If they’ve ordered copper wiring, and a standard RCD box then they can be reused (and they probably have stock of these anyway). The only difference will be if your project is large and requires more unique materials - like a lager than standard RCD box/multiple boxes/a lot of cable. 

In any case they can keep only the cost of these materials, and not the labour hours that it would have cost, and not the profit they’d have made. 

I appreciate it’s nerve wracking when you cancel a big project but I’d just wait and see what they come back with (as they haven’t yet said they’re keeping anything) - and take it from there. If they’re a legitimate business with experience (which those terms makes me think they probably are) then they’ll likely have dealt with similar before and know the rules. 

Thanks for that. 
Yes very nerve-wracking. 
Wpuld you be optimistic for me in this case?

An RCD box from ScrewFix is £100, and the wiring can vary but it doesn’t really require that much for a house. Most of the charge (as I understand it) comes from the installation and ripping out of the old wires as it can take a long time to actually do. I would think if they keep anything it’d be less than £500 for the supplies/inspection of your house - and they’d need to show they had to order stuff in (not show to you, but show to a court if you wanted to go to court). 

It depends on the size of the company too. If they’re a relatively large company they will probably have copper wire ready to go (buying in bulk is obviously cheaper than buying it for each project) and probably would have RCD boxes too. But smaller companies may buy as they need to - but this isn’t a large amount of money. 

Personally I would be optimistic - especially cancelling within 24 hours. Realistically they wouldn’t have had much time to buy stuff within that time. But I also appreciate it is nerve wracking- it’ll be a lot of money. I think they’d struggle to hold you to account for the full amount, and I think they’d struggle to show their losses at more than £500, and that’s buying at retail prices not trade.  

PHK

You mention consumer rights ie , which is an Irish website? Are you in the UK or Ireland?

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Hello OP

With regards to services, their terms talk about you waiving the "cooling off period", however this is covered here:

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/3134/regulation/36

If they completely rewired your house then yes payment is due, if however they begin the service but don't complete it before the cancellation window expires and you cancel after 7 days when they've done say 50% of the job you'd be required to pay for 50%.

In terms of materials these are goods and the cancellation period expires 14 days after delivery. 

There may be a difference if materials aren't itemised, as this is a transfer of goods rather than a supply which falls under services for the Consumer Rights Act, but I'm not sure how this affects the right to cancel under The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013.

If you are in Ireland the regs are pretty much the same as they are here, with the exception of any changes to the EU Directive since 31st Dec 2020. 

It would be useful to know how this contract was agreed OP? 

Did they come out to your home, give you a quote there and have you sign the paperwork before they left? 

user1977

PHK said:

You mention consumer rights ie , which is an Irish website? Are you in the UK or Ireland?

According to one of their other threads they're in Scotland, so I think they just carelessly Googled that info.

blackstar

We are in Scotland and we entered into the contract from phone/email. Nothing was in person. 

blackstar

Thanks for this.

So as per terms and conditions that I signed they may hold me responsible for any costs they may have incurred from me cancelling?

So if they come back and say we incurred x amount of costs and will only refund you x amount what would I have to do then? 
Take them to court and try and get the rest back? Would they need to prove in court how they incurred these costs? 

Consumer rights said below


The Consumer Contract (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 state that If I so wish I can cancel the order within 14 days of it having been placed. 

If the contract that you accepted and agreed to at the point of sale confirms that you may be liable for any costs that may be incurred by the trader due to the consumer cancelling the contract then you would be bound by these terms and condition's.