Consumer Rights

Question 1

Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/1277)

Answer 1

• prohibit certain practices by retailers and others and lead to criminal sanctions
• The regulations also provide civil remedies for consumers affected by the prohibited practices

Question 2

Commercial practices

Answer 2

is ‘any act, omission, course of conduct, representation or commercial communication (including advertising or marketing) by a trader, which is directly connected with the promotion, sale or supply of a product to or from consumers, whether occurring before, during or after a commercial transaction (if any) in relation to a product’

Question 3

Professional diligance

Answer 3

standard of special skill and care which a trader may reasonably be expected to exercise towards consumers which is commensurate with either (a) honest market practice in the trader’s field of activity, or (b) the general principle of good faith in the trader’s field of activity.

Question 4

Practices prohibited sch 1

Answer 4

• false assertion of membership of a trade association
• claiming false authority for a quality mark
• bait advertising - advertising products of limited availability or within only very limited period
• bait and switch - falsely claiming to have goods and then offering alternatives
• selling goods which cannot be legally sold
• pretending to offer consumers special rights as part of a deal when the rights already exist in law
• pyramid schemes
• misleading consumers as to the necessity of the goods or services
• misleading consumers as to the true manufacturers of a product etc

Question 5

The Competition and Market Authority

Question 6

the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013

Answer 6

• between traders and consumers (internet or telephone)
• off-premises contract
• on-premises contract
• exclusion: gambling, lotteries, financial services, property leases, buildings and their conversion, contracts for food and drink for domestic use, package holidays and timeshares, automating vending machines

Question 7

Consumer Protection Act 1987

Answer 7

• injury and damage
• strict liability for producers (defences s.4) but contributory negligence, cannot contract out of s.7
• producers avoid liability by claiming that they were not the manufacturers of a harmful product s.2(3)
• victims, buyers or not, who suffer injury may be able to raise an action against the producer of the goods

Question 8

state of art defence

Answer 8

s.4(1)(e) CPA 1987