Consumer Rights Act 2022

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Obligations of trader in event of cancellation

117. (1) Subject to subsection (2), the trader shall reimburse all payments, including any payment for delivery, received from a consumer who exercises the right to cancel a contract.

(2) If the consumer has expressly opted for a type of delivery costing more than the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by the trader, the trader is required to reimburse the consumer in respect of the payment for delivery only by an amount equivalent to the cost of the least expensive type of standard delivery offered by the trader.

(3) Subject to subsection (4), the trader shall reimburse the consumer’s payment without undue delay and in any event not later than 14 days after the day on which the trader is informed in accordance with section 115 of the consumer’s decision to cancel the contract.

(4) Where the cancellation relates to a sales contract, the trader may, unless the trader has offered to collect the goods, withhold the reimbursement until—

(a) the trader has received the goods back, or

(b) the consumer supplies evidence to the trader that he or she has sent the goods back,

whichever first occurs.

(5) Unless the consumer has expressly agreed otherwise, the trader shall reimburse the consumer using the same means of payment as the consumer used for the initial transaction.

(6) Where the consumer agrees that the reimbursement may be made by a different means of payment to that used for the initial transaction, the trader shall ensure that the consumer does not incur any fees as a result of the use of that different means of payment.

(7) The trader shall not use any content, other than personal data, which was provided or created by the consumer when using the digital content or digital service supplied by the trader, except where such content—

(a) has no utility outside the context of the digital content or digital service supplied by the trader,

(b) only relates to the consumer’s activity when using the digital content or digital service supplied by the trader,

(c) has been aggregated with other data by the trader and cannot be disaggregated or can be disaggregated only with disproportionate effort, or

(d) has been generated jointly by the consumer and others, and other consumers are able to continue to make use of the content.

(8) The trader shall, at the request of the consumer, make available to the consumer any content (other than personal data or content to which subsection (7)(a), (b) or (c) applies) which was provided or created by the consumer when using the digital content or digital service supplied by the trader.

(9) The consumer shall be entitled to retrieve the digital content referred to in subsection (8) free of charge, without hindrance from the trader, within a reasonable time and in a commonly used and machine-readable format.

(10) Where the consumer cancels the contract, the trader may prevent any further use of the digital content or digital service by the consumer, in particular by making the digital content or digital service inaccessible to the consumer or disabling the user account of the consumer, without prejudice to subsection (8).

(11) A trader who contravenes any of subsections (1) to (8) commits an offence.

(12) If the trader fails to comply with an obligation to reimburse the consumer in accordance with this section, the trader shall be liable in damages for any loss or damage suffered by the consumer as a result of that failure.