Distance selling: sale of goods, digital content & services online, by phone, off-business premises etc

Many people shop at a distance. They may order goods, digital content, and services over the
internet, by telephone, by mail order or even by digital television. Sometimes the delivered goods
may not be as described, may arrive faulty or incomplete, or may not arrive at all.

In the UK, distance selling transactions are covered by normal buying and selling legislation,
predominantly the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and the protection from unfair trading provisions of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. Importantly, consumers are given additional rights under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013 No.3134), known as “the Consumer Contracts Regulations”. The regulations came into force on 13 June 2014 but were subsequently amended by part 4 section 8 of the Consumer Protection(Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations (SI 2018 No. 1326) to ensure they continued to be effective after the UK left the EU.

The Consumer Contracts Regulations establishes a framework for fair and transparent practices in
distance selling. The regulations make a distinction between two different types of consumer
contracts:

• Distance contracts – made without face-to-face contact between the trader and the consumer (for example, contracts made online, over the phone, or by email)
• Off-premises contracts – made when the trader and the consumer meet face-to-face but not at business premises (for example, on the consumer’s doorstep, in the street, or during a sales trip

Both distance and off-premises contracts attract strong rights for consumers. For instance, traders
must give consumers certain specified pre-contract information about the goods or services,
including their description, price and applicable delivery charges. Traders must also give
information about consumers’ 14-day cooling-off period after receiving the goods or services,
during which they can cancel the contract without penalty. Traders selling at a distance must
design their sales processes to comply with the regulations. The aim is to protect consumers and
ensure they get clear information before entering into a contract.

This briefing considers consumer protection rights under the Consumer Contracts Regulations when
shopping at a distance, including their rights to redress when things go wrong. It also summarises
other legislation which regulates distance selling, namely, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (parts 1
and 2) and the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (part 4).