Civil way: 23 October 2015

CONSUMERS ALRIGHT ACT: SECOND DOLLOP

Goodbye Now the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA 2015) (see “Civil way”, NLJ, 9 October 2015, p17) gets exciting: well, more exciting. The Sale of Goods Act 1979 (SGA 1979), s 11 right to reject within a reasonable time (and a full refund) is replaced for consumer sales (but not for digital content) with a short-term right which is generally 30 days from delivery or earlier transfer of ownership but for perishable goods, substitute any shorter period before which perishing would occur. Time stops running if the consumer—they have no obligation to do so—requests or agrees to repair or replacement. The parties can agree to an extension (which might be useful if the trader is denying liability and the consumer wants the goods to be expertly tested or the consumer who fears that the manifestation of a defect may take longer than 30 days and wishes to preserve the right to a short-term rejection beyond 30 days