Distance Sales

I wasn’t aware that my car purchase was a distance sale. Should the seller have told me when the vehicle was delivered, and does this affect my rights?

Yes, the Regulations say exactly what information should have been provided to you by the seller. If you haven’t been given information about your rights in relation to a distance sale at the point of delivery, including your right to cancel the purchase within 14 days, then you may have up to a year to cancel your order for the vehicle and receive a refund.

If I pay a deposit over the phone or online to reserve a car that I have only ever seen a picture of, is this is classed as a distance sale?

If you’ve signed terms and conditions and paid a deposit over the phone or Internet without ever visiting the retailer’s premises, and you have not ever seen the exact car you’re buying in person (i.e. not an equivalent example), this is classed as a distance sale. This means that you have the right to cancel your order within 14 days and receive a full refund of your deposit, regardless of your reasons or any money the retailer has spent on the sale. However, if at some point during the sales process you visit the dealership’s premises, this would no longer be a distance sale.

For example, you find a car you like online and you reserve it, paying a fee of £200 with your card over the Internet. You then go into the dealership to view the vehicle and sign the paperwork. This wouldn’t be a distance sale because you’ve visited the retailer’s premises during the sales process.

How do the Consumer Contracts Regulations differ to the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and do car buyers have the same rights under the two pieces of legislation?

All car buyers have protection under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, a key piece of consumer law in the United Kingdom. The Act says that any goods purchased by customers must meet certain standards, including that they must be of satisfactory quality considering their age, description and condition – amongst other factors, fit for purpose and meet any description given of them. The Act also sets out the remedies to which a consumer may be entitled if they buy faulty goods.

For people who buy their cars at a distance, normally online, they have additional rights under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. This is because people buying products at a distance don’t have the opportunity to view and inspect them before making their decision to buy, so the Regulations mean consumers have an opportunity to decide whether they’d like to keep the product or not, and can return it if they don’t want it without having to prove it’s in some way faulty or misdescribed.

I have a dispute regarding a distance sale. Is this something that The Motor Ombudsman can look at?

Yes, distance sales are covered under provision 2.12 in The Motor Ombudsman’s Vehicle Sales Code, which states the following:

“Where a vehicle sale is concluded at a distance, the accredited business will make clear your right to cancel within 14 days.”

If a dispute around a distance sale has not been resolved with a retailer that is accredited to The Motor Ombudsman, and the business has been given up to eight weeks to provide a formal response, you can then get in touch with us and we’ll see what we can do to help.

What UK legislation governs distance sales?

The UK legislation that covers the process of distance selling is called the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, sometimes referred to as the ‘Distance Selling Regulations’. It came into force in June 2014.

What is a distance sale?

A distance sale is defined as when a customer buys a product, such as a car, and the contract is formed completely at a distance. When we say a contract is formed, we mean that the consumer has made an offer to buy the product at a particular price, the retailer has accepted that offer, and payment (full or part) has been made by the customer.