All businesses which sell goods or services away from their normal trading premises must have cancellable contracts. The contract must display prescribed information in a clear and prominent manner, and have a form which consumers may use to effect cancellation.

The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 provide for cooling off periods which depend on the type of contract it is. For pure services which do not involve the supply of goods the period is 14 days from the date of the contract. For sales of goods and also services involving the supply of goods, such as home improvement / repair work, the customer may cancel up to 14 days after receiving the last of any goods included in the contract.

We do enforce these regulations and failure to comply may result in legal action. We have a zero tolerance policy on rogue trading and it is a criminal offence for traders to fail to provide cancellation rights where the contract is made at the consumer's home.

The regulations have many requirements on information that must be given to consumers when making contracts and we recommend businesses first read the advice guides on the Business Companion website.