Consumer law
Consumer rights
The term 鈥榗onsumer law鈥 refers to any piece of government legislation Laws made by the government. designed to protect consumers from poor-quality products and poor business practices. In the UK there are several pieces of legislation that form the basis of consumer rights: the Consumer Rights Act (2015), Consumer Protection Act (1987) and the Trade Descriptions Act (1968).
In addition to legislation, businesses must follow the advertising code of practice. This ensures that businesses do not use misleading advertising practices and that products are accurately represented to consumers. The government state that all advertising should be accurate, legal, decent, truthful, honest and socially responsible.
The Consumer Rights Act (2015)
This act deals with transactionExchanges of goods, services or funds. between a seller and a buyer, and is designed to protect consumers from unfair and dishonest business practices. It covers:
- the product or service
- returns
- repairs and replacement
- delivery
goodA product that can be touched. and serviceSomething a business provides that is intangible, ie not able to be touched. must be:
- described accurately 鈥 businesses should not describe goods and services in a misleading way
- fit for purpose 鈥 goods must do what they are designed to do
- satisfactory quality 鈥 goods should not be damaged or faulty when sold as new
- provided in a reasonable time at a reasonable price
Consumers must be given the right to return, replace or have a repair for any faulty goods and businesses must ensure that they provide goods and services of an adequate level of quality to meet expectations.
The Consumer Protection Act (1987)
This Consumer Protection Act (1987) is designed to ensure that products are safe. It makes businesses that produce, rather than just sell, liable for any damage caused by poor quality or defective products. The producer is considered to be an individual or company who puts their name or trademark on a product, or has imported it into the European UnionA group of European countries initially formed to remove trade barriers and reduce potential for war within Europe. Citizens of member states have the right to move freely to any other member state to work. in order to sell it on.
It gives anybody the right to claim against the producer of a product for any damage caused by a manufacturing defect.
Trade Descriptions Act 1968
The Trade Descriptions Act 1968 ensures that businesses accurately describe their goods and services. It is an offence for businesses to falsely describe any element of the products they offer. For example, accurate information must be given about the size of an engine in a car.
Fake designer goods that are marketed as genuine are a clear breach of the Trade Descriptions Act.