Government proposals to streamline eight overlapping pieces of legislation into one new Consumers Rights Bill have been welcomed by Sue Robinson, director of the National Franchised Dealers Association, who says the bill will be easier for members to understand and implement.
The draft bill follows a consultation carried out by the government last year and, under its proposals, consumers will have the right to get some money back after one failed repair of faulty goods, to demand that substandard services are redone or, failing that, get a price reduction.
The repair or replacement to faulty digital services (not covered by existing consumer legislation) is also included. The draft bill also proposes a 30-day period for when consumers can return faulty goods and get a full refund. At present, consumers can reject goods as faulty within “a reasonable period“. Under existing legislation, “reasonable” can be anything from 14 days to two months.
Another proposal in the draft bill is that enforcement agencies, such as trading standards, give reasonable notice to businesses when carrying out routine inspections. The bill has been hailed as the most radical overhaul to consumer law for more than three decades, but has still to undergo scrutiny in the House of Commons and Lords, and is unlikely to become law until early next year.