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Consumer Remedies

Commissioner
Chairman

Team members
Mrs Gillian Swanson, Project Manager
Mr Laurence Diver, Legal Assistant

On 10 November 2008, the Law Commission and the Scottish Law Commission published a joint Consultation Paper on Consumer Remedies. A summary of the paper and news release are also available, together with Appendix C (the European Consumer Centre Questionnaire) and Appendix D (the Comparative Study) to the Consultation Paper. The consultation is in response to a reference from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (formerly the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) which asked both Commissions to look at simplifying the remedies which are available to consumers when they purchase goods which do not conform to contract because, for example, they are faulty. This is part of a wider review of the eight existing European Commission consumer directives. In October 2008, the European Commission published a proposal for a new directive which would (among other things) reform the law on consumer remedies. It is based on "full harmonisation", which means that member states could not provide fewer or more rights than the reformed directive requires. BIS has conducted its own consultation on the European Commission's proposal (available at www.bis.gov.uk).

The current law is complex as there are two legal regimes:

• (1) Under traditional UK law, consumers are entitled to reject the goods and receive a full refund ("the right to reject"), provided they act within "a reasonable time". However, the court cases give little guidance on how long a reasonable time lasts.
• (2) This has been supplemented by the European 1999 Consumer Sales Directive, which states that consumers are entitled to a repair or replacement. If the retailer is unable to repair or replace the goods in a reasonable time or without significant inconvenience, the consumer may then ask for a refund ("rescission") or a reduction in price.

There has been little attempt to integrate these regimes. Consumers may use either, leading to confusion and complexity. Our aim is to propose a law which is easily understood and fair to both consumers and retailers. We provisionally propose a more harmonised regime, incorporating both European remedies and the right to reject, along the following lines:

The consultation period closed on 2 February 2009. We are most grateful to all those who have contributed to the Commissions' work by sending us their views. A factual summary of those responses is available, together with an overview. All responses will be taken into account in formulating the Commissions' final recommendations which will be contained in a report to be published around the end of 2009.

Contact

If you require further information about this project, or if there are any matters which you wish to raise in relation to this project, please email: gillian.swanson@scotlawcom.gov.uk

Page last updated: 3 July 2009