The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has published a call for evidence on the Consumer Contract Regulations (CCRs).
The CCRs govern the information that a trader must provide to a consumer before and after making a sale, how that information should be provided, and the right for consumers to change their minds when buying at a distance or off-premises.
The regulations also ban practices such as additional payments appearing as a default option, and requiring customers to pay more than the basic phone rate for post-contract customer helplines.
For the tourism industry, a key aspect of the CCRs is the ‘right to cancellation’ provisions for off-premises sales. Currently, for most goods and services customers have a 14 day period in which to return goods or cancel services. However, there is an exemption to these rights for a wide range of tourism products including accommodation, flights, car hire, event tickets and services relating to leisure activities that take place on a specified date or period.
The consultation document references initial feedback from stakeholders that suggests in some circumstances, certain exemptions such as hotel bookings could be causing consumer detriment. This indicates that there will potentially be modifications or a removal of these exemptions; the consultation will allow BEIS to gather further views and evidence around this issue.
Members wishing to respond can complete the online survey here, or if you would like to be included in the Tourism Alliance response please submit your views to Kurt Janson by 24 April 2019.
