The last year has been an eventful one for Contracts4You. Having established in April 2014 the legal consultancy, which specialises in negotiating and writing legal contracts for businesses across England, has seen an influx of clients. This influx has been partially caused by the recent changes in consumer law.
The Consumer Contracts Regulations came into force in June 2014. The new law requires traders to provide certain contractual information to consumers before making a sale, and gives enhanced cancellation rights to consumers. Hence a number of existing and new clients approached us to review their existing customer terms and conditions to ensure their compliance with the law.
2015 is set to see further changes to consumer law with the Consumer Rights Bill currently being passed through Parliament. It is set to come into force in October.
The new legislation seeks to:
- consolidate existing law including the Sale of Goods Act 1979 and the Consumer Protection Act 1987;
- introduce new rights for consumers including a short-term right to reject of 30 days and a final right to reject;
- bring the law into line with the digital age by affording consumers certain rights when buying digital content;
- consolidate the provisions laid out in the Unfair Contracts Terms Act 1977 and the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 regarding protection for consumer from unfair terms in consumer contracts.
The new law will affect all businesses that sell to consumers. The Government is expected to release guidance on the new legislation in April 2015 to enable businesses to prepare for the changes.
If you run a business which sells goods and services to consumers it is important that you are aware of the recent changes in law and the changes to come. And it is equally as important that you start preparing for the changes before the law comes into effect in October.
Contracts4You will be working with businesses to ensure that they are well prepared. We will work with you consider how the changes will impact on your business and help you make the necessary changes to your legal contracts and business practices.
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