Cooling-Off Period

The Regulations themselves set out the right in plain terms: 'The consumer may cancel a distance or off-premises contract at any time in the cancellation period without giving any reason', and without incurring liability except as the Regulations otherwise provide. For a standard sales contract, the cancellation period ends at the end of 14 days after the day on which the contract is entered into (or, for goods, after the day the goods reach the consumer's physical possession, with specific rules for split deliveries and regular deliveries).

Traders who fail to tell consumers about their cancellation rights face a much longer exposure: if the required information about the right to cancel is never properly given, the cancellation period ends at the end of 12 months after the day on which it would otherwise have ended — turning what is normally a 14-day window into up to a year.