World Consumer Rights Day

The Consumer Rights Act came into force on 1 October 2015 which meant from that date new consumer rights became law covering:

what should happen when goods are faulty;
what should happen when digital content is faulty;
how services should match up to what has been agreed, and what should happen when they do not, or when they are not provided with reasonable care and skill;
unfair terms in a contract;
what happens when a business is acting in a way which isn’t competitive

Most of these changes were important updates to existing laws. But two new areas of law were also introduced.

For the first time rights on digital content have been set out in legislation. The Act gives consumers a clear right to the repair or replacement of faulty digital content, such as online film and games, music downloads and e-books. The law here had been unclear and this change has brought us up to date with how digital products have evolved.
There are now also new, clear rules for what should happen if a service is not provided with reasonable care and skill or as agreed. For example, the business that provided the service must bring it into line with what was agreed with the customer or, if this is not practical, must give some money back.