Consumers who buy from a business online or at a distance in the UK generally have a legal right to change their mind. This guide explains how that right works for sellers: when the 14 days begin, what has to be refunded, which sales are exempt and what happens if the rules are missed.
What does the cancellation right actually say?
The rules sit in the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. According to GOV.UK’s guidance for businesses, customers can cancel within up to 14 days after their order is delivered and do not need to give a reason. The right applies to sales made online, by phone, by post or through any other route where buyer and seller do not meet in person.
That makes it a rule about more than websites. A London studio selling prints through a social media shop, a food brand taking orders by email and a retailer with an app are all in scope when they sell to individual consumers. The regulations do not govern sales between two businesses, which is a different legal territory.
Two features matter in practice. First, the customer does not need a reason, so a seller cannot ask for justification before accepting a cancellation. Second, the right is a legal minimum. A seller may offer a longer returns window as a commercial choice, but it cannot offer a shorter one for goods and services covered by the regulations.
When do the 14 days start?
Regulation 30 sets the starting point, and it differs by contract type.
- Sales of goods: the period ends 14 days after the day on which the goods come into the physical possession of the consumer, or of a person other than the carrier whom the consumer has identified to take them.
- Service contracts: the period ends 14 days after the day on which the contract is entered into.
- Split deliveries: the regulations contain separate start points where several goods are ordered but delivered on different days, where one order arrives in multiple lots or pieces on different days, and for regular deliveries over a defined period.
A worked example shows the effect. If a customer receives a jacket on 3 November, the period runs to 17 November, because it ends 14 days after the day of receipt. The customer has until then to tell the seller they are cancelling, not to have the parcel back with the seller.
That last point is often misunderstood. Cancelling and returning are separate steps, and the refund clock in the regulations is tied to them in a particular way, which the next section covers.
What must be refunded, and how quickly?
Regulation 34 is the section sellers should know best. It says the trader must refund “without undue delay, and in any event not later than” set deadlines.
For sales of goods where the seller has not offered to collect them, the deadline is 14 days from the day the seller receives the goods back, or from the earlier day the consumer shows evidence of having sent them back. In all other cases it is 14 days from the day the seller is told of the cancellation.
The refund must cover all payments received from the consumer, with a particular rule on delivery. Delivery charges are refunded too, unless the consumer chose a more expensive delivery than the least expensive common, generally acceptable option the seller offered. In that case, the delivery refund is capped at what the cheapest option would have cost.
Two further points apply:
- The refund must use the same payment method the consumer used originally, unless the consumer has expressly agreed otherwise.
- The seller cannot charge any fee for making the refund.
Illustrative arithmetic: a returned order
Suppose a customer buys a £60 item and chooses express delivery at £7.99, when the seller also offered standard delivery at £3.99. The customer cancels and returns the goods unused.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Goods | £60.00 |
| Delivery refund, capped at the standard option | £3.99 |
| Minimum refund due | £63.99 |
The £4.00 difference between the two delivery options is not refundable under the regulation (£7.99 less £3.99). The figures are illustrative only; the seller’s own terms may be more generous.
Who pays for the return, and can a seller deduct for wear?
The regulations allow deductions in a narrow set of circumstances. For sales of goods, the seller may recover any loss in the goods’ value caused by handling beyond what is needed to check their nature, characteristics and functioning. That amount is capped at the contract price. Handling that goes beyond what would reasonably be allowed in a shop counts as excessive.
In other words, a customer may try on a coat as they would in a changing room, but wearing it to an event and returning it is a different matter. The seller can either deduct the amount from the refund or ask the customer to pay it separately.
There is an important limit. No deduction is allowed if the seller failed to give the required information about the right to cancel. Sellers who omit or bury that information therefore lose a protection they might otherwise rely on.
The regulations also deal with the return of goods themselves, in regulation 35. Sellers should read it directly or take advice on who bears return postage, because the answer depends on what the seller told the customer before the contract was made.
Which sales fall outside the right to cancel?
Not every distance sale carries the cancellation right. Regulation 28 lists the circumstances where it does not apply, including:
- goods or services whose price depends on financial market fluctuations the trader cannot control;
- goods made to the consumer’s own requirements or clearly personalised;
- goods that spoil or expire quickly;
- single issues of newspapers, magazines or periodicals (subscriptions are not covered by this exception);
- contracts concluded at a public auction;
- accommodation, goods transport, vehicle rental, catering or leisure services with a specific date or performance period.
Regulation 28 also covers goods where the right is lost once something happens after delivery. Sealed goods unsuitable for return on health or hygiene grounds fall away if they are unsealed. Sealed audio or video recordings and sealed computer software are treated in the same way, as are goods that become inseparably mixed with other items according to their nature.
GOV.UK’s guidance for businesses adds a further list of exceptions, including goods and services worth £42 or less, financial services, package holidays, passenger tickets and vending machine purchases. Sellers should check the live guidance before relying on any single threshold, as such figures can change.
What information must be given before the customer buys?
The right to cancel is only as strong as the information that goes with it. According to GOV.UK, a seller must give the customer certain information before an order is placed, including:
- the business name, contact details and address;
- a description of the goods or services and the price including all taxes;
- accepted payment methods and delivery terms, including costs and arrival times;
- the minimum contract length and billing period, and conditions for ending contracts;
- cancellation rights, when they are lost, and any reasonable charges for using a service after cancelling;
- a standard cancellation form, if cancellation is allowed;
- conditions for deposits or financial guarantees.
The information must be easy to understand and supplied on paper or in a format the customer can save, such as email. After the order, a copy of the contract must be provided no later than delivery. GOV.UK also says goods must be delivered within 30 days unless the parties have agreed otherwise.
For a growing online shop, this is largely a checkout and confirmation-email exercise. Product pages, basket summaries and order emails are where most of these items live, and each is worth reviewing against the list.
What happens if the information is missing?
This is where mistakes become expensive. GOV.UK states that if a seller does not disclose the right to cancel, customers can cancel at any time within 12 months. If the seller discloses it within those 12 months, the 14 days start from the date of disclosure.
Combined with the rule that no deduction is allowed where the cancellation information was not given, the effect is that a customer could return a used item many months after purchase and receive a full refund. For a business with thin margins, that is a cash-flow risk as much as a legal one, and it connects to the broader pressures described in what business owners should understand about cash flow.
On enforcement, GOV.UK says a business that breaks these rules could be made to provide the goods or services as agreed, pay compensation, or face “an unlimited fine or a prison sentence.” Those are the outer limits of the guidance, not a prediction for a typical dispute, and most issues are resolved by refunds long before they reach that point.
Are there related rules sellers should watch?
Cancellation rights are one strand of how trade between businesses and consumers is regulated, and a seller who gets this right still faces other obligations. Late payment between businesses is changing separately, as covered in the Commercial Payments Bill and its 60-day cap. Operational changes in the shop and at the till are also shaping how customers expect returns to work, a theme explored in how technology is changing the modern London shop.
The regulations also address additional payments under a contract in regulation 40, which matters for pre-ticked boxes and add-ons at checkout. Sellers who rely on extras at the basket stage should read that provision directly.
Making returns a routine, not a risk
The 14-day right is simple to state and easy to get wrong in the details. The clock starts on possession of goods, not on dispatch. The refund covers the goods and, normally, standard delivery. The exceptions are real but narrow, and missing information can stretch the window from 14 days to as long as 12 months.
For small London sellers, the practical lesson is to treat returns as a designed process: clear pre-sale information, a saved copy of the contract, a refund route that matches the original payment and a note of which products genuinely fall into an exempt category. That does not remove the cost of returns, but it makes the cost predictable.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Consumer law changes and individual cases turn on their facts; sellers should check current official guidance or take professional advice.
Sources: GOV.UK; Legislation.gov.uk
