Amanda J Williams has kindly agreed to trawl through the new Consumer Rights Act 2015 which came into effect this month and translate it into bite sized chunks explaining how it will impact your business.
Amanda is Senior Legal Counsel at Business Law Online, who offer services at an hourly rate of just £135 plus VAT, but they also offer fixed price legal services taking into consideration every legal situation a business may encounter. Their fixed price contract includes legal advice and services, guidance, document preparation, review and more. Their services could include redrafting your Terms and Conditions of sale to take into account the new Consumer Rights.
Today Amanda looks at Services rights in the Consumer Rights Act:
The Consumer Rights Act 2015: Services
The Consumer Rights Act came into force on 01 October 2015 and only applies to transactions made AFTER 1st October 2015.
This new act replaces three key pieces of former legislation – the Sale of Goods Act, Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations and the Supply of Goods and Services Act.
This Act also introduces two new areas of law, one of which covers Services.
A Service means work that is done by others as a business or occupation and can include a minor repair on your car to major building works. Services can be provided on their own such as hair dressers, estate agents, or with goods, for example, the building of a house extension or double glazing. The Act states that Services should be carried out as agreed, using reasonable skill and care, at a reasonable price (where the price is not agreed beforehand) and in a reasonable time.
If the Services you have received don’t meet the conditions of the Act you are entitled to request that the trader either re-does the unacceptable piece of work again or re-performs the whole service at no extra cost to you, within a reasonable time and without causing you significant inconvenience. There are however some occasions where re-performance isn’t impossible or can’t be done within a reasonable time or without causing significant inconvenience and in these circumstances you can claim a price reduction. Depending on the severity of the failings this could be up to 100% of the original price. Claiming under the Act doesn’t preclude you from seeking other remedies such as damages or specific performance provided, of course, that you don’t claim for the same loss twice.
Example
You contract with a catering service to provide a buffet for your birthday for 6pm on a given Saturday. You pay £25 per head for the service. There is a clause in the contract stating that the maximum discount for any service problem caused by the supplier is £70. However, the buffet is delivered late, at 10pm, as the party is ending. Under the Act, the catering service has breached the information in their contract by not delivering at 6pm. The term limiting the price reduction is invalid. The catering cannot be repeated, as the party has happened. You are entitled to a reduction in price (possibly up to 100%) due to non-compliance with the information provided.
