Goodman Derrick's dispute resolution team has received a
number of recent instructions to act for both consumers and
businesses in relation to disputes involving the application and
interpretation of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (the
"Act"). The Act came into force in October 2015 but it
appears that both consumers and businesses are only now becoming
alive to the rights and remedies afforded by it.
The Act was predominantly designed to modernise and simplify key
parts of the UK’s consumer protection rules, particularly in
relation to distance and online selling. It incorporates many
pre-existing consumer rights but in our experience, it is the
remedies that consumers are afforded under the Act which consumer
claimants are starting to use to greater effect. These remedies
incorporate a staged remedy system for addressing defective goods
which is broadly comprised of the following:
