皇冠体育app

Victims bullied or misled into buying goods and services are set to be given new rights to get their money back from rogue traders whose unfair practices cost them billions.

Draft legislation announced by Consumer Minister Jo Swinson today sets out how consumers will also have access to clearer information about any additional costs and more generous time limits for returning goods bought online.

皇冠体育app new proposals amending the Consumer Protection Regulations from Unfair Trading Regulations will:

• give consumers 90 days to cancel a contract and receive a full refund if they have been misled or bullied into agreeing it. After the 90 days consumers can still receive a proportion of their money back - currently, it is unclear what consumers are entitled to in this situation
• give consumers new rights to recover payments made to traders who mislead or bully them into paying money which was not owed - currently, the trader can be prosecuted but the consumer finds it much more difficult to get their money back
• give consumers the right to claim compensation for any alarm or distress caused by these practices

Jo Swinson also announced today details of how the Consumer Rights Directive will be implemented, including measures which will:

• increase the time limit for returning goods purchased online or by phone from 7 days to 14 days after the goods have been received, should the consumer change their mind

• ban pre-ticked tick boxes for extras that the consumer may not want or need and that could result in unexpected payment
• set out key information consumers should be given by traders before agreeing to purchase, like additional costs or cancellation right

In a Consumer Focus calculated that the total detriment suffered by consumers as a result of misleading and aggressive practices was around 拢3.3 billion a year. Earlier Consumer Focus research found that over 60% of the population had been the target of an unfair commercial practice.

In 7% of cases, the consumer suffered more than 拢500 worth of loss.

In 3% the consumer suffered more than 拢1,000 worth of loss.

Despite the high standards exhibited by the vast majority of businesses, there are traders who seek to exploit consumers. Misleading and aggressive practices are a particular problem for vulnerable and elderly consumers, for example, when they fall victim to misleading or aggressive doorstep sales techniques.

Consumer Minister Jo Swinson said:

For too long the rules that apply when buying goods and services have been murky for both consumers and businesses. 皇冠体育app situation is even worse for vulnerable consumers who are misled into buying something they neither need nor want.

We want consumers to be confident to shop with a range of traders and to drive rogues out of business. 皇冠体育app new rights announced today will mean consumers are entitled to the same level of protection whether they are purchasing goods or services online, at home or in a shop.

Along with the draft Consumer Rights Bill announced in June, the reforms to consumer law will enhance consumer rights and make them easier to understand and help businesses interpret and apply the law. 皇冠体育app changes will boost the UK economy by over 拢4 billion over the next decade.

Citizens Advice Chief Executive, Gillian Guy said:

Citizens Advice helps with over 77,000 problems with misleading claims and pressure selling a year. A beefed-up approach to tackling misleading and aggressive practices is desperately needed and will be a step towards protecting people from bullying businesses. People are losing out as they take out services such as insurance, timeshares and home improvements only to later discover it is not what they were promised or wanted.

Martin Lewis, creator of MoneySavingExpert.com, said:

This is an important shift of emphasis from the rather arduous and resource-heavy prosecuting of rogue behaviour, towards rights for the individual. Individuals will gain more rights of redress and it鈥檒l be easier for them to change their minds if something fails to live up to the spiel.

In itself, this strengthens the deterrent for companies which target the vulnerable. 皇冠体育app important part will be ensuring the system makes it relatively easy for people to enforce the rules 鈥� or only the financially-literate and confident will gain.

Tom Ironside, British Retail Consortium Director of Business & Regulation, said:

皇冠体育app BRC supports both the new consumer rights that derive from the European Union Consumer Rights Directive and the proposals from the UK Government, to clarify consumer and business rights and obligations on aspects of the UK Sale of Goods Law and misleading and aggressive practices.

Business will also benefit from the new Consumer Rights Directive regulations which will make it clearer that goods bought at a distance (eg online) must be returned to the trader before the consumer can get a refund. Traders will also be able to deduct money from refunds where there is evidence that a returned product has been used.

皇冠体育app new regulations would also ban customer helplines from charging more than the basic rate of a phone call to call the trader about something they have bought.

Notes to editors

1. 皇冠体育app draft regulations on the Consumer Rights Directive are called the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Payments) Regulations. 皇冠体育appy are available on the 鈥楿K implementation of the Consumer Rights Directive鈥� consultation page.

2. 皇冠体育app draft regulations on Misleading and aggressive practices are called the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading (Amendment) Regulations 2013.

3. Examples of where the draft regulations will help consumers: * Misleading and aggressive practice: an elderly couple who live on the 7th floor of a tower block are bullied by a door to door salesman into purchasing a 拢2,000 mobility scooter they don鈥檛 want or need. 皇冠体育app scooter is delivered that same day. 皇冠体育app couple do not use the scooter and complain to the company a month later. 皇冠体育app company refuses to give them a full refund but Citizens Advice advise them that they can take action in the civil court. 皇冠体育app court awards them a full refund and they are also awarded additional compensation for the distress they have suffered * Purchasing something online: you buy a dress from an online retailer and you don鈥檛 like the look of the fabric once you have seen it in person. You will now have 14 days after you receive it to change your mind and return the dress for a refund. Previously it was only 7 days * Pre-ticked boxes: you buy a washing machine online. When you get to the payment page, the trader offers a 5 year warranty for 拢110. 皇冠体育app box is already ticked. If you do not want the warranty, and miss or forget to untick the box, you are not liable for the 拢110, which should be refunded to you

4. 皇冠体育app Citizens Advice consumer service dealt with over 77,000 complaints about misleading claims and high pressure selling between April 2012 and March 2013.

5. Court fees costs from 拢35 for claims up to 拢300 and 拢95 for claims up to 拢3,000.

6. Consumers will be able to find more information on the proposals and wider reforms.

7. Comments can be submitted by 11 October via email [email protected] or letter to: Consumer Bill Team, Consumer and Competition Policy, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, 1 Victoria Street, London, SW1H 0ET

8. Definitions: * a misleading commercial practice is one which contains false information, or if it is likely to deceive the average consumer in its overall presentation * an aggressive commercial practice is one which significantly impairs the consumer鈥檚 freedom of choice through the use of harassment, coercion or undue influence

9. According to the latest IMRG Capgemini eRetail Sales Index, British online shoppers spent 拢68 billion in 2011.

10. 皇冠体育app drive to fundamentally reform consumer rights and make sure consumers are getting a fair deal is part of the wider consumer changes the government has been making over the past year. This includes boosting the role of the Citizens Advice Service as the one stop shop for all consumer enquiries.

11. Information about doorstep selling and top tips on what to look out for is available on .

12. 皇冠体育app government鈥檚 economic policy objective is to achieve 鈥榮trong, sustainable and balanced growth that is more evenly shared across the country and between industries鈥�. It set 4 ambitions in the 鈥楶lan for Growth鈥�, published at Budget 2011: * to create the most competitive tax system in the G20 * to make the UK the best place in Europe to start, finance and grow a business * to encourage investment and exports as a route to a more balanced economy * to create a more educated workforce that is the most flexible in Europe

Work is underway across government to achieve these ambitions, including progress on more than 250 measures as part of the Growth Review. Developing an Industrial Strategy gives new impetus to this work by providing businesses, investors and the public with more clarity about the long-term direction in which the government wants the economy to travel.