Consumer Rights Act 2015 Explanatory Notes

ANNEX B: Transposition Notes

Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council 1999/44/EC of 25 May 1999 on certain aspects of the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees

518.This note describes the implementation in the Consumer Rights Act 2015 of Directive 1999/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 May 1999 on certain aspects of the sale of consumer goods and associated guarantees.(50) The Directive requires that goods sold to consumers must be in conformity with the contract and consumers have certain remedies if goods are not in conformity with the contract. The Directive also requires that guarantees provided free of charge alongside goods be legally binding.

519.The deadline for implementing the Directive passed on 1 January 2002. The legislation currently implementing the Directive can be found in the Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumers Regulations 2002 (SI 2002/3045) and in the Sale of Goods Act 1979, the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982 and the Supply of Goods (Implied Terms) Act 1973 each of which SI 2002/3045 amended. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 repeals and replaces the provisions of those pieces of legislation which currently implement the Directive.

520.UK law has long provided that goods must meet certain requirements, which are implied into contracts for goods, and consumers have remedies if the requirements are not met. The Directive was implemented by amending and supplementing pre-existing law. The Act goes beyond the minimum requirements of the Directive in a number of respects, as it reflects both the Directive and embedded UK law.

521.The table below describes the main substantive provisions of the Act implementing the Directive.

Council Directive 93/13/EEC of 5 April 1993 on unfair terms in consumer contracts

522.This note describes the implementation in the Consumer Rights Act 2015 of Council Directive 93/13/EEC of 5 April 1993 on unfair terms in consumer contracts.(51) The Directive requires that unfair terms in contracts concluded between a trader and a consumer are not binding.

523.The deadline for implementing the Directive passed on 31 December 1994. The legislation currently implementing the Directive can be found in the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 (SI 1999/2083). The Consumer Rights Act 2015 repeals and replaces the provisions of those Regulations.

524.The Act goes beyond the minimum requirements of the Directive in a number of respects:

• application to all consumer contract terms, whether or not individually negotiated;

• application to trader’s notices directed at consumers, whether or not incorporated in a consumer contract;

• contracts and notices excluding trader’s liability in negligence for death or personal injury are not binding;

• terms on main subject matter and price are exempt from assessment of fairness only if transparent and prominent;

• three further terms added to ‘grey list’.

525.The table below describes the main substantive provisions of the Act implementing the Directive.

Directive 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on consumer rights

526.This note describes the implementation in the Consumer Rights Act 2015 of Directive 2011/83/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011 on consumer rights, amending Council Directive 93/13/EEC and Directive 1999/44/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Council Directive 85/577/EEC and Directive 97/7/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council.

527.The Directive covers

• Information which traders should provide to consumers

• Cancellation rights and responsibilities for distance and off-premises sales

• Delivery and passing of risk provisions

• Measures to prevent hidden costs

528.The regulations that, alongside the Consumer Rights Act 2015, implement the Directive can be found in the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/3134). A full transposition note for the Directive was published alongside the regulations and can be found at www.gov.uk/bis. The Act replaces a small number of provisions of these Regulations, as set out below, for coherence with related measures in the Act, in accordance with the Government’s aim to ensure that regulation is simple and coherent as possible.

529.The provisions in the Act listed below reflect those in the Directive.

530.The two areas implemented in the Act relate to pre-contractual information and to the delivery of goods and passing of risk. Pre-contractual information, is made a term of the contract. In addition, the Act implements rules for the timing of delivery for goods and regarding when responsibility transfers from the trader to the consumer for goods delivered. The table below describes the transposition in the Act of the relevant provisions of the Directive.

Directives Conferring Effective Enforcement Measures

531.This note describes how the Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives effect to key Directives that require effective enforcement measures to be implemented with regard to consumer law.

532.These include Directive 2005/29/EC of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market(52); Directive 2006/114/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 December 2006 concerning misleading and comparative advertising(53); Directive 2001/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 December 2001 on General Product Safety(54); Directive 2004/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 March 2004 on measuring instruments(55); and Council Directive 76/211/EEC of 20 January 1976 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the making-up by weight or by volume of certain prepackaged products.(56)

533.The tables below describe how the provisions of the Act implement these key Directives.