Section 236 — Inertia selling

Extent: E+W+S+N.I.

This version in force from 2025-04-06

Snapshot: 2026-08-24

Reproduced from legislation.gov.uk (Crown Copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0). Amendments made after 2026-08-24 may not be reflected — always check the official text .

(1) This section applies where a trader engages in the unfair commercial practice described at paragraph 31 of Schedule 20.

(2) The consumer is exempted from any obligation to pay for (or provide any other consideration for) the products supplied by the trader.

(3) In the case of a supply of goods that has not been requested, the consumer may, as between the consumer and the trader, use, deal with or dispose of the goods as if they were an unconditional gift to the consumer.

(4) The absence of a response from a consumer following the supply of the product does not constitute consent from the consumer to comply with the trader’s demand for the consumer to—

(a) pay for the product;

(b) return the product;