Current doorstep selling regulations provide rights to consumers who enter into agreements to buy goods or services in their homes or place of work when the trader’s visit was unsolicited. Those rights provide for a cooling off period of seven days, during which time the contract may be cancelled by the consumer, and a requirement that the trader provides the consumer with a written notice of the right to cancel the contract. We are planning, later this year, to introduce new Doorstep Selling Regulations to extend the cooling off period and cancellation rights to include solicited visits, and to require the trader to include the notice of the right to cancel the contract in the written contract.
Additional consumer protection will be provided by the EC Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (UCPD) which will be implemented by the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs). Draft regulations will be laid before Parliament shortly and, if approved in debate, will come into force on 6 April. The CPRs will complement the Doorstep Selling Regulations by addressing high pressure sales and deceptive marketing techniques used by unscrupulous traders engaged in doorstep selling and cold calling.