Distance Selling & E-Commerce Law for UK Businesses

If you sell online, by phone, or by mail order, you are selling at a distance — and UK law imposes significant obligations beyond the basic Consumer Rights Act 2015 standards. Getting these wrong can result in extended cancellation windows, mandatory refunds, and Trading Standards investigations.

1. The Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013

The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (CCR 2013) replaced the old Distance Selling Regulations 2000 and the Doorstep Selling Regulations 1987, implementing the EU Consumer Rights Directive. They apply to all distance contracts (sold without face-to-face contact — online, telephone, email, mail order) and off-premises contracts(sold away from the trader's premises, e.g. at a consumer's home) between a trader and a consumer.

The CCR 2013 create three main sets of obligations:

1. Pre-contract information requirements — specific information the trader must give the consumer before the contract is made
2. Cancellation rights — a 14-day cooling-off period with clear procedures
3. Restrictions on additional charges — banning pre-ticked boxes and excessive payment surcharges

The Regulations apply only to B2C contracts. They do not apply to contracts for passenger transport services, financial services (which have their own regime), or contracts concluded by means of automatic vending machines.

2. Pre-Contract Information Requirements

Before a distance contract is concluded, the trader must provide the consumer with a comprehensive list of information in a clear and comprehensible manner. For online contracts, this must be provided on the website before the consumer places the order.

Required pre-contract information includes:

• The identity of the trader — trading name, legal name, geographic address, telephone number, email address
• Main characteristics of the goods or services (description, quantity, key specifications)
• The total price inclusive of taxes, or where the price cannot reasonably be calculated in advance, the manner in which the price will be calculated
• Any additional delivery charges, taxes, or other costs not included in the headline price — if these cannot be calculated in advance, the consumer must be told they will be payable
• Arrangements for payment, delivery, and performance — expected delivery date
• The trader's complaints handling policy
• Information about the right to cancel, including the cancellation period, conditions, and procedure
• Who bears the cost of return if the consumer cancels
• For digital content: the functionality and interoperability

If required pre-contract information is not provided, the 14-day cancellation period is automatically extended by up to 12 months. The trader also cannot enforce the contract until the omitted information is provided.

3. The 14-Day Cooling-Off Period

Consumers have an unconditional 14-day right to cancel most distance contracts. They do not need to give any reason. The 14-day period begins:

• For goods contracts — the day the consumer (or a nominated third party other than a carrier) receives the goods
• For services contracts — the day the contract is concluded
• For digital content contracts (not supplied on a tangible medium) — the day the contract is concluded
• For mixed contracts (goods + services) — the day the last goods are received

If the trader fails to provide the cancellation information, the period is extended by up to 12 months after the original 14-day period ends (i.e. up to 12 months and 14 days from delivery).

The model cancellation form set out in Schedule 3 of the CCR 2013 must be provided to consumers. Traders should include it in the order confirmation or the product/service documentation. Consumers are not required to use the form — any clear statement of their intention to cancel suffices.

4. Cancellation Process

Under CCR 2013, the consumer simply needs to communicate their intention to cancel within the 14-day period. They do not need to explain why. The communication can be by post, email, telephone, or via an online cancellation form. The cancellation is effective from the date it is sent (not received), provided it is sent within the 14-day period.

Practical requirements for traders:

• Provide a clear and accessible cancellation mechanism — a dedicated email address, online form, or telephone number
• If providing an online cancellation form, the trader must send the consumer an acknowledgement on a durable medium (email) without delay
• The trader must provide a model cancellation form in the terms and conditions or order confirmation
• Making cancellation deliberately difficult is a breach of the regulations and can constitute an aggressive commercial practice under the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008

5. Refund Obligations

When a consumer cancels within the 14-day period, the trader must issue the refund within 14 days of being notified of the cancellation (for goods) or within 14 days of the cancellation itself (for services or digital content). The refund must include:

• The full price paid for the goods or services
• The standard delivery costs paid by the consumer (but not the cost of upgraded delivery options the consumer chose — e.g. next-day delivery above the standard charge)

The trader can withhold the refund for goods until the goods are returned, or the consumer provides evidence of having returned them — whichever is earlier. The refund must be made using the same payment method the consumer used, unless they expressly agree otherwise. No charges or deductions may be made for the refund itself.

The trader may make a deduction from the refund to reflect any diminution in value of the goods caused by the consumer handling the goods beyond what was necessary to check their nature, characteristics, and function — but only if the consumer was informed of this right in the pre-contract information.

6. Return Costs

The default under CCR 2013 is that the consumer pays the direct cost of returning goods after exercising the cancellation right. However:

• The trader must clearly inform the consumer of this cost (or estimated cost) in the pre-contract information. If the trader fails to do so, the trader must bear the return costs
• Where goods, by their nature, cannot reasonably be returned by post (e.g. large furniture, appliances), the trader must arrange and pay for collection
• If the trader agrees (voluntarily or as a policy) to pay return costs, this is binding

This is separate from the consumer's rights for faulty goods under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, where the trader must always bear the cost of return — the CCR return cost provisions only apply to cancellations where the goods are not faulty.

7. Exceptions to the Cancellation Right

Not all distance contracts carry the 14-day cancellation right. The CCR 2013 list specific categories that are exempt:

• Bespoke or personalised goods— made to the consumer's specification or clearly personalised (e.g. engraved jewellery, custom-printed t-shirts)
• Perishable goods — goods that are liable to deteriorate or expire rapidly (e.g. fresh flowers, fresh food)
• Sealed hygiene products — goods sealed for health protection or hygiene reasons, where the seal has been broken after delivery (e.g. cosmetics, undergarments, personal care items)
• Digital content already downloaded— where downloading or streaming of digital content has begun with the consumer's prior express consent and acknowledgement that the cancellation right is thereby lost
• Accommodation, transport, car rental, and catering — contracts for leisure services for a specific date or period
• Goods mixed inseparably with other goods — after delivery (e.g. loose tea mixed with existing stock)
• Sealed audio, video, or software — if the seal has been broken after delivery
• Newspapers and periodicals (with some exceptions for subscriptions)

Traders should clearly communicate applicable exceptions in their terms and conditions. Wrongly claiming an exception applies can constitute an unfair commercial practice.

8. Inertia Selling and Subscription Traps

UK law specifically targets practices designed to trap consumers into subscriptions or ongoing charges:

• Pre-ticked boxes — a trader cannot use pre-ticked boxes or other default consent mechanisms to add charges to an order. Any additional payment that the consumer has not actively selected must be refunded
• Inertia selling — it is illegal to send consumers unsolicited goods or services and then demand payment for them
• The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA) introduces new protections for subscription contracts, expected to come into force in stages from 2025–2026. These include: clear pre-contractual information about subscription terms, renewal reminders before automatic renewals, and a straightforward cancellation mechanism
• The CMAhas enforcement powers against 'subscription traps' — practices including obscuring recurring charges, making cancellation difficult, or failing to send renewal reminders

Businesses operating subscription models should review their sign-up flows, cancellation journeys, and renewal communications against both the existing CCR 2013 requirements and the incoming DMCCA obligations.

9. Website Legal Requirements

Online businesses have additional legal requirements beyond consumer contracts law:

• Terms and conditions — must be available and easy to find; must include the pre-contract information required by CCR 2013 and must incorporate ADR signposting
• Privacy policy — required under UK GDPR; must explain what data is collected, for what purpose, and how data subjects can exercise their rights
• Cookie consent — required under PECR; non-essential cookies require prior consent through a clear and user-friendly mechanism
• Company information — limited companies must display their registered company name, company number, and registered office address. VAT-registered businesses must display their VAT number
• Complaints process — must be accessible; from October 2015, UK businesses must include a link to the EU Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) platform for EU consumers (though post-Brexit relevance for UK-only sales is reduced)
• Pricing — all prices must include VAT for consumer-facing sites; delivery costs must be disclosed before purchase
• Accessibility — while not currently mandatory for all private sector websites, the Equality Act 2010 requires reasonable adjustments, and public sector websites must comply with WCAG 2.1 AA standards

10. Cross-Border Sales

UK businesses selling to EU customers post-Brexit face additional obligations:

• EU VAT — for B2C sales to EU consumers, UK businesses may need to register for VAT in individual EU member states or use the EU One Stop Shop (OSS) scheme (via registration in an EU member state) to account for EU VAT centrally
• Import One Stop Shop (IOSS) — for goods valued up to €150 sold to EU consumers, the IOSS allows UK sellers to collect and remit EU VAT at the point of sale rather than having EU consumers pay import charges on delivery
• UK import VAT threshold — goods imported into the UK are subject to UK VAT from the first penny (the old £15 Low Value Consignment Relief was abolished in January 2021). For goods valued up to £135, VAT is collected at the point of sale (not at the border); for goods over £135, VAT and customs duty are due on importation
• Consumer law — EU consumers buying from UK businesses may still have rights under their own national consumer law; UK businesses selling significantly into the EU should take EU consumer law advice

Key obligations at a glance