A short guide for businesses on distance selling

A short guide for business

on distance selling

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 A short guide for businesses on distance selling

Distance Selling Regulations

This guide aims to provide businesses with a brief overview

of the Distance Selling Regulations (DSRs). More detailed
information can be found on the OFT website at: http://www.
oft.gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/general/oft698.pdf.

What are the Distance Selling Regulations?

The Distance Selling Regulations (DSRs) are the rules that

apply if you are selling products or services to consumers
without face-to-face contact, and where the consumer has
not had an opportunity to examine the goods before buying
or discuss the service in person. Examples of distance
selling include selling via: the internet, text message, phone
call, fax and interactive TV or mail order.
One aim of the DSRs is to ensure a minimum level of
consumer protection across the European Union (EU) although
other EU countries may have implemented them differently.
In non-EU countries you may need to take legal advice to
ensure that you comply with the legal requirements.
Compliance with the DSRs is a legal requirement and
enforcement action can be taken in the courts against
businesses that breach them.

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Do they apply to your business?

Exceptions to the DSRs

The DSRs do not apply to the following:
• business to business contracts
• contracts for the sale of land, that is the sale of freehold or
leasehold interests. They do apply to short term tenancy
or leasehold agreements (rental agreements) concluded
by distance means
• contracts for the construction of a building where the
contract also provides for a sale or other transfer of an
interest in the land on which the building is constructed.
They do apply where a consumer already has rights over
the land and subsequently enters into a distance contract
with a builder to construct a building on the land
• contracts relating to financial services to consumers.
However these services are likely to be subject to the
Financial Services (Distance Marketing) Regulations 2004
and, where relevant, the Consumer Credit Act 1974
• conditional sales and contracts for hire purchase. They do
apply to contracts for hire services, for example the hire of
electrical items or clothing
• contracts concluded with a telecommunications operator in
respect of a telephone call from a public pay phone
• auction sales, including online and interactive TV auctions.
They do apply to some activities described as auctions
depending on exactly when and how the sale occurs.

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 A short guide for businesses on distance selling

There are some exceptions to the requirements to provide

pre-contractual information, written and additional information,
the right to cancel and the obligation on the supplier to carry
out the contract within a maximum of 30 days.
These apply to:
• certain types of contracts for the supply of food, drinks
or other goods for everyday consumption delivered to the
consumer’s home or work place. In the OFT’s view this
does not include home deliveries by supermarkets or other
home delivery grocery businesses
• certain types of contract to provide accommodation,
transport, catering or leisure services (for example hotel
accommodation, plane, train or concert tickets, car hire or
sporting events) where you agree to provide the service
on a specific date or within a specific period. However,
long term residential hotel accommodation agreed under
a distance contract may be considered to be rented
accommodation and therefore subject to the DSRs.

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How to comply with the DSRs

You must give your consumers certain information before they

agree to buy from you. We refer to this as pre-contractual
information which includes the following:
• sufficient detail for the consumer to be able to identify the
business they are dealing with
• a description of the main characteristics of the goods or
services you are offering
• the price of the goods or services you are offering, including
all taxes
• details of any delivery costs
• details of how payments can be made
• if payment is required in advance, you must supply your full
geographic address
• the arrangements for delivery or performance of the
service, for example when consumers can expect delivery
of the goods or the service to start. The contract should
be performed within 30 days unless the parties agree to a
different period
• information about your consumers’ right to cancel, where
applicable
• if consumers have to use a premium-rate phone number,
you must specify the inclusive cost of the call (including
taxes) before any charges are incurred for the phone call,
for example the cost of the call per minute or an indication
of the likely cost of the call. You should also advise your
consumer that the cost of the call may differ from that
quoted, depending on their network provider

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 A short guide for businesses on distance selling

• how long the price or the offer remains valid

• the minimum duration of the contract where goods or
services are to be provided permanently or recurrently,
for example, if you are supplying a mobile phone or satellite
TV contract or a book club subscription, and
• that you will pay the cost of your consumers returning any
products that you supply as substitutes because the goods
or services originally ordered are not available.
Information to be provided once consumers have
decided to buy
If you provide pre-contractual information in a form that does
not allow it to be stored or reproduced by the consumer, such
as during a phone call or on a website, then you must confirm
in writing, or in another durable medium (such as e-mail or
fax) accessible to the consumer that can be kept for future
reference and which cannot be edited. We do not consider
that information on a website is durable as it can be altered
after the consumer has accessed it.
In addition to the above information, consumers should also
be told:
• when and how to exercise their rights under the DSRs to
cancel including
– for goods – whether you require goods to be returned by
the consumer and if so who will pay for their return
– for services – the consequence of agreeing to a service
starting before the end of the usual seven working day
cancellation period
• details of any guarantees or after-sales services

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• the geographic address of the business to which the
consumer may direct any complaints. In the OFT’s view
this means a physical location and therefore excludes a
PO Box address
• if a contract lasts more than a year or is open-ended, the
contractual conditions for terminating it. This safeguards
you as well as the consumer as both parties have the same
information.
When must I supply this information?
Before the conclusion of the contract or in ‘good time’, this
means that the consumer has sufficient time to act on it when
they receive it, for example, to cancel the contract if needed.
Carrying out the contract
A contract must be carried out within the time limits agreed
with the consumer as stated in the terms and conditions. If
no period is set then the statutory time limit is 30 days from
the day after the consumer sent the order to you. If this is not
possible you must advise the consumer before the deadline.
If the goods didn’t arrive in time your consumer is entitled to a
full refund, including the postage and packaging, unless they
agree to a new deadline to give you more time.
Consumers’ cancellation rights
The stage at which you provide your consumers with the
required written information will affect when the cancellation
period ends.
Where the DSRs give consumers the right to cancel an order,
this right is unconditional and begins from the moment the
contract is concluded. Unlike when buying from a shop the
first time that a consumer will have an opportunity to examine

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 A short guide for businesses on distance selling

goods purchased by distance means is when they receive

them. When a consumer cancels a contract to which the
cancellation provisions apply they are entitled to a refund of
any money they have paid in relation to the contract even if
the goods are not defective in any way.
The time limits for cancellation are as follows,
for goods:
• seven working days (not including weekends or bank
holidays) after the day on which they receive the goods
– provided you give the consumer the required written
information no later than the time the goods are delivered
• seven working days from the day after the day on which the
consumer received the written information and within three
months of the goods being delivered, when the written
information is not provided at the time of delivery, or
• three months and seven days from the day after the day
the consumer receives the goods if you do not give the
required written information at all (or give it after the three
month period mentioned above).
for services:
• seven days from the day after the contract was concluded if
you give the consumer the required written information on
or before the day the contract is concluded, or
• seven working days after the information was received but
within three months (beginning the day after the contract
was concluded), if the information was received after the
contract was concluded.

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Different rules apply to services where the consumer agrees
that the service starts before the usual cancellation period
expires. These are:
• where you have supplied the required durable information
before the service starts and the consumer agrees to the
service starting before the end of the usual cancellation
period, their cancellation rights will end when performance
of the service starts
• if the consumer agrees that the service can start before
the usual cancellation period ends, but you do not provide
the required written information until after the service has
started but in time for it still to be useful, cancellation rights
will last for seven working days after the day the consumer
receives the information. But if you finish providing the
service within seven working days after the day the
consumer receives the required durable information,
cancellation rights will end on the day of completion, or
• if you do not provide the required durable information at all,
your consumer’s right to cancel ends after three months
and seven working days counting from the day after the day
on which the contract was concluded. This applies whether
or not the consumer agrees that you can start the service
before the cancellation period ends.
What must consumers do if they want to cancel?
They must tell you in writing or in another durable medium
such as e-mail, if they want to cancel but not by phone
unless your terms say this is acceptable. The effective date
for cancellations under the DSRs is the date on which the
consumer gives notice of cancellation to you.

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 A short guide for businesses on distance selling

For more detail on how consumers can give notice of

cancellation see the full text version of the ‘Guide for business
on distance selling’ on the OFT website at: http://www.oft.
gov.uk/shared_oft/business_leaflets/general/oft698.pdf
Unless you have agreed that they can, your consumers cannot
cancel if the order is for:
• services where you have had the consumer’s agreement
to start the service before the end of the usual cancellation
period and you have provided the consumer with the
required written information before you start the service,
including information that the cancellation rights will end
as soon as you start the service
• goods or services where the price depends on
fluctuations in the financial markets which cannot be
controlled by the supplier
• the supply of goods made to the consumer’s own
specification such as custom-made blinds or curtains.
This exception does not apply to upgrade options such as
choosing alloy wheels when buying a car, or a combination
of standard-off-the shelf components when ordering a PC
• goods that by reason of their nature cannot be returned
• perishable goods like fresh foods or fresh cut flowers
• audio or video recordings or computer software that the
customer has unsealed
• newspapers, periodicals or magazines, and
• gaming, betting and lottery services.
Apart from these exceptions the DSRs give consumers an
unconditional right to cancel a contract and legally oblige
you to refund all sums due in relation to the contract, this

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means the full price of the goods, or deposit or prepayment
made including the cost of the delivery. This must be done
as soon as possible after the consumer cancels, and within a
maximum of 30 days. The DSRs do, however, give suppliers
a right of action against consumers for breach of the statutory
duty to take reasonable care of the goods.
Refunds
The retailer must refund the full amount including the delivery
costs as soon as possible after the consumer cancels, and in
any case within 30 days at the latest. You cannot insist on the
goods being received by you before you make a refund.
Returning goods
Only if it is covered in the contract and the written information
can you require the consumer to pay for the cost of returning
the ordered goods. If the consumer then fails to return the
goods, or sends them at your expense, you can charge them
the direct cost to you of the return, even if you have already
refunded the consumer’s money. You are not allowed to
make any further charges, such as a restocking charge or an
administration charge.
If you do not include these details in the required written
information then you cannot charge anything. You can never
require consumers to pay the cost of returning substitute
goods. If the goods are faulty or do not comply with the
contract, you will have to pay for their return whatever the
circumstances.

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 A short guide for businesses on distance selling

Further information
The OFT has produced sector specific guidance on the
application of the DSRs to the sale of cars and IT contracts
made at a distance, copies of which can be found on the
OFT website.
Please note that these are only guides and should not be
regarded as a statement of how the law applies in every
situation. If you are unsure about how the DSRs apply to the
circumstances of your particular business then you should
consult a legal advisor.
Other legislation
E-Commerce Regulations (ECRs) govern the provision of
information society services, which are any services normally
provided on request for payment, at a distance, by means
of electronic equipment. If you are providing these services,
you must supply certain information, some of which overlaps
with the information you must supply under the DSRs. This
includes:
• the full name of your business
• the geographic address at which your business is
established
• your contact details, including e-mail address
• details of any publicly accessible trade or similar register
with which you are registered
• if your service is subject to an authorisation scheme or if
you are a member of a professional body, details of the
relevant supervisory authority or body

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• your VAT registration number
• where you refer to prices, a clear and unambiguous
indication of those prices and whether the prices include
taxes and delivery costs (but the DSRs also require you to
quote prices inclusive of all taxes if the sale is covered by
the DSRs).
The ECRs also set out certain conditions for commercial
communications. These must be clearly identified as
such, provide your identity as the person making the
communication, clearly identify any promotional offer or
promotional competition or game and ensure that terms and
conditions for participation are presented clearly. There are
also requirements relating to the storing of the contract and
for access to this by the consumer. Also, that provision is
made to enable the consumer to correct input errors prior to
placing an order. Consumers should receive acknowledgment
of the receipt of the order electronically without delay.
If you are uncertain about the application of any of the above
law to your businesses activities, you should consult a legal
advisor.

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 A short guide for businesses on distance selling

Where to go for more information:

The Office of Fair Trading

See www.oft.gov.uk for extensive information on different
trading laws. As well as more on the DSRs there is
information about the Enterprise Act.
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)
See www.dti.gov.uk for background information on running
a business and guidance on ECRs.

Trading Standards
See www.tradingstandards.gov.uk for advice on law and
details of your nearest Trading Standards office.

Business Link
An independent body funded by DTI.
Visit www.businesslink.gov.uk for a variety of business
information and pointers for creating online shops and
web marketing.

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This information is available in other
formats and languages on request.
Please ring 0800 389 3158 for details.

This leaflet is only a simple guide and should not be

relied on as a complete statement of the law.
To understand your rights and obligations fully,
study the relevant law or consult a solicitor.
Published by the Office of Fair Trading
Printed in the UK on paper comprising
75% post consumer waste and 25% ECF pulp.

Edition 04/07 – printed 04/07 10,000

Product code OFT 913
© Crown copyright 2007
www.oft.gov.uk