Government publishes Draft Consumer Rights Bill

Practical Law UK Legal Update 8-531-7212 (Approx. 4 pages)

Government publishes Draft Consumer Rights Bill

by Practical Law Commercial

The government published the Draft Consumer Rights Bill on 12 June 2013. (Free access)

The government has published the Draft Consumer Rights Bill, the most significant overhaul of UK consumer law reform in decades. The Draft Bill has been published for scrutiny by the public and Parliamentary committees, and has not been formally introduced to Parliament. It was announced in the Queen's Speech in May 2013, following years of consultation by the government and the two Law Commissions on key areas of consumer protection law. The government has also published its final report on these consultations and individual impact assessments on each key area of consumer protection law which forms part of the Draft Bill. The scope of the Draft Bill broadly reflects what was outlined by the government in the Queen's Speech, with the notable exception of a direct consumer right for misleading and aggressive practices (which will be introduced separately to the Draft Bill). Comments on the Draft Bill should be submitted by 13 September 2013. Further details on the Draft Bill will follow in a subsequent e-mail.

The Draft Bill is in three parts:

Part 1 covers the reform and consolidation of a consumer's rights and remedies for goods and services (amending the Sale of Goods Act 1979 and the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982), as well as introducing new rules for digital content. Part 1 also includes limited partial implementation of those sections of the Consumer Rights Directive (2011/83/EU) on delivery and risk in sales of goods, and by providing that certain mandatory information provided by a business under the Directive will be treated as contractual terms.
Part 2 covers the reform of the rules on unfair terms in consumer contracts (amending UCTA and repealing the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 (SI 1999/2083)).
Part 3 (in reality, the schedules under Part 3) covers enforcement powers of public enforcers (amending over 60 pieces of legislation) and new civil remedies which can be imposed by a public enforcer on a business (amending the Enterprise Act 2002). It also includes the reform of consumer collective actions for anti-competitive behaviour (amending the Competition Act 1998) (for discussion, see Legal update, Draft Consumer Rights Bill: implementation of decisions on private actions in competition law).

Notably, the Draft Bill does not include the Law Commissions' proposals in April 2012 for a new direct consumer civil right for misleading and aggressive practices. The government states that it intends to introduce this by amending the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/1277) instead.

As the Draft Bill has been published for scrutiny by both the public and Parliamentary committees, the government has published a pro forma document for comments by public respondees. Comments should be sent by 13 September 2013.

Further details on the Draft Bill will follow in a subsequent e-mail.

Source

Draft Consumer Rights Bill; BIS Draft Consumer Rights Bill page with explanatory notes, Government response to consultations, and impact assessments, 12 June 2013.

End of Document

Also Found In

Resource ID 8-531-7212

Published on 12-Jun-2013

Resource Type Legal update: archive

Jurisdiction

United Kingdom