The UK kept a regime close to the European one and then developed it separately. It has one instrument that has no equivalent anywhere in Europe, and it is the strongest tool a British consumer has.
Two statutes carry most of it. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 governs what the goods themselves must be, and the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 govern the right to walk away from a distance purchase. They answer different questions and it pays not to mix them up.
Under the Consumer Rights Act, goods supplied to a consumer must be of satisfactory quality, fit for any purpose made known to the trader, and as described. Those terms are treated as part of every contract and cannot be excluded.
| When | What you can demand |
|---|---|
| Within 30 days | The short-term right to reject: hand the goods back and take a full refund. No repair attempt need be accepted first. |
| After 30 days | Repair or replacement, within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience. |
| If that fails | A price reduction, or the final right to reject for a refund that may be reduced for use. |
| First six months | A defect is presumed to have been present at delivery. The trader has to show otherwise. |
For a distance purchase the Consumer Contracts Regulations give fourteen days from receipt of the goods to cancel without a reason, and a further fourteen days for the trader to refund. Where the trader never told the consumer about that right, the window extends substantially. The same carve-outs apply as in Europe: bespoke items, sealed goods opened for hygiene reasons, perishables.
Under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, where a purchase is paid for even partly by credit card and the cash price is over one hundred pounds and no more than thirty thousand, the card issuer is jointly and severally liable with the seller for misrepresentation or breach of contract. Not a scheme courtesy, a statutory claim against the bank.
That matters because it survives the seller going under. Where a British consumer has paid by credit card and the shop has collapsed or vanished, section 75 is usually the only route that ends in money, and it is the first thing we check.
Section 75 does not apply. What remains is chargeback under the card scheme's own rules, which is a contractual arrangement between banks rather than a statutory right, with its own deadlines. It works, but it is weaker and more easily refused.
A trader that cannot resolve a complaint must tell the consumer about an approved alternative dispute resolution body, though in most sectors taking part is voluntary for the trader. Beyond that sits the small claims track, which in England and Wales handles claims up to ten thousand pounds without needing a solicitor. Trading Standards handles patterns of misconduct rather than individual refunds.
The EU rules on which court may hear a cross-border consumer case no longer bind the UK. For a consumer in the Union buying from a British seller, the protective jurisdiction rules of Brussels I bis do not deliver the same automatic answer they do inside the EU. In practice that pushes cases towards the payment route and towards correspondence, which is where we start anyway.
If it was paid by credit card, section 75 puts the bank on the hook alongside the shop. We check that first.