1. Consumer law is changing: Do you know what this means for you and your business?
What you need to do about it today and what you need to be thinking about tomorrow (OK, next year)
Good morning everyone.
Today I am going to talk about changes to consumer rights and consumer protection legislation – some this year, and some coming in next year from Europe.
Value for money 365 days of the year

2. Intended Learning Outcomes (or what you should get out of the next half hour)
An awareness of changes to consumer protection legislation and practice,
An understanding of what bits will impact on your business and when,
An introduction to BSHAA’s latest Terms and Conditions which should help you not to fall foul of the law
I am going to tell you how and when the law is changing and suggest what you and your business can do to prepare for and respond to the changes.
I am going to give you BSHAA’s best advice on the terms and conditions of sale which you can use.
And this is what you should expect to get out of the next half hour! [Point to slide]

3. Do the sums
Good professional service + Good customer service = Good business
Customer service > giving legal minimum rights
Retain the trust = Retain the business
You all know that the strength of your business proposition relies on a good professional service and a good customer experience – call it customer care, customer service - what fits best for you.
Good customer service is of course a lot more than just meeting the minimum legal rights which protect the consumer when things go wrong.
But the way in which you and your business approach your customers’ basic legal rights – negatively or positively; in fear or with confidence; in ignorance or fully informed – will surely set the tone for the whole relationship you have with them.
You work hard to gain the trust of your client that you will help them get the best hearing experience they can. Having a positive approach to addressing the (almost inevitable) problems on the way is probably the best way to retain that trust.

4. The News! New Consumer Rights Bill
New distance selling and contract information and cancellation rights
New mandatory access to disputes resolution service
So, to the news!
The Government has published the draft Consumer Rights Bill, due to pass through parliament later this year, setting out its proposals to simplify and bring the UK’s patchwork of consumer law into the 21st century.
There will be also be specific changes to regulations on distance selling, consumer contract information and additional cancellation rights (during cooling off periods, although we understand that healthcare will be exempt from this); and amendments to the Unfair Trading Regulations.
By 2015 the UK has also to comply with all the terms of the European Consumer Rights Directive, including every business being legally required to offer their customers access to an Alternative Disputes Resolution service – that’s the BSHAA Customer Care Scheme to you and me.

5. Consumer Rights Bill
Brings the rights and obligations of consumers and traders all in one place
Helps consumers understand their rights when things go wrong
Reduce regulatory burden for business
Going through Parliament now…so details not finalised yet
The Consumer Rights Bill is intended to bring the rights and obligations of consumers and traders all together in one coherent legal framework, and help consumers understand their rights when something goes wrong.
Although we cannot judge until all the details work through Parliament, the Government’s plans to update and simplify UK consumer rules are claimed to be good news for responsible brands and businesses. Although the proposals will increase consumers’ legal rights (and their awareness of, and assertiveness in, exercising those rights), and require suppliers to review their ts and cs and policies in the short term, in the long term the revised regime is intended to be much easier to navigate. (However, judged today, that’s aspiration, not fact!)
But whether or not businesses will agree with the Government’s cost estimates of the potential savings of simplifying the law, I suspect that most would agree that complying, and being seen to comply, with consumer protection rules makes commercial sense - particularly in the age of social media, where news of bad experiences travels fast.
Today’s goods, services and patterns of consumption seem a lifetime away from the 1970s and 80s when current UK consumer rules were written.

6. What are the Consumer Protection changes?
Consumer Contract Regulations:
Rules and information requirements for off-site, distance selling and contracts made outside of a trader’s normal business premises.
Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations:
Misleading actions and false information
Consumers able to unwind contracts for up to 90 days
But let’s concentrate on regulations and changes we know are definitely happening.
We know that, in June, the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 come into force, dealing predominantly with rules and information requirements for on-site, distance selling and contracts made outside of a trader’s normal business premises, as well as additional payments (pre-tick boxes) and helpline charges.
We also know that, although no date for adoption has yet been announced, the 2008 Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations will be re-enforced to stop unscrupulous traders who carry out trading practices that make a consumer purchase a product or service that they would otherwise not have. Consumers will be able to unwind contracts for up to 90 days if the trader has fallen foul of these regulations and in certain circumstances can claim damages and discounts.
Providing false information which deceives the customer is in breach of regulations.
So you could potentially be in breach of the Regulations if you:
Incorrectly told a consumer that the hearing aid could not be repaired and they will need to buy a new one;
Or you indicated there would be 24/7 aftersales assistance but did not provide cover at weekends.

7. When?
JUNE Consumer Contract Regulations: Rules and information requirements for on-site, distance selling and contracts made outside of normal business premises.
SUMMER Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations: To stop unscrupulous traders. Consumers will be able to unwind contracts for up to 90 days
AUTUMN Consumer Rights Act (parts of)
JULY 2015 Consumer Rights Act (all of – required by EU Consumer Rights Directive)
But just let’s confirm when all of these waves of UK and EU Consumer Protection legislation are likely to hit us.
We know that the Consumer Contract Regulations come in in June – and we’ve updated Ts and Cs accordingly.
The Unfair Trading Regulations are likely to follow in the summer – and we will of course update BSHAA members, and the Ts and Cs further as necessary.
Originally it was the Government’s ambition to bring all consumer law changes into force by the middle of this year (with some parts of the EU Consumer Rights Directive). However, as very few parts of the UK Bill deal with EU-led changes, most of it is still slowly working its way through parliament and it remains to be seen how quickly some of this legislation will actually be adopted.
Although July 2015 is still the deadline for incorporating all of the EU Consumer Rights Directive into UK law, there is flexibility to exclude many different types of business from some or all of the EU provisions.
So all I can say today is that there are likely to be further Consumer Rights regulations coming down the pipe later this year and into 2015.
But I can certainly promise you that, through your membership of BSHAA, you will be the first to know if and when you and your business need to do something about it – and what that something is.

8. The BSHAA Specimen Terms and Conditions of Sale
Updated with legal advice from Susan Singleton
; members section; BSHAA resources
Take your own legal advice; adjust to fit your own business model
Use them wisely; don’t distribute them; don’t sell them
Now, you can open your papers and start reading….. and while you are doing so, let me direct you to the small print!
The BSHAA Specimen Terms and Conditions of Sale have been updated by Jill Humphreys, taking into legal advice from Susan Singleton, whose article you can read in BSHAA News on your door mat in the next few days.
You can also find them on the website – in the member’s section, under BSHAA resources (where you can also find the full guidance from BIZ on the Consumer Contract Regulations)
The suggested wording is there to assist you, but you will each have different requirements and it is up to you to have the T & Cs that are applicable to your own business model.
No guarantee is issued that all terms are or will remain legally valid. It is best to take your own legal advice, and check with your insurers that the liability provisions are acceptable
And please, use them wisely; don’t distribute them; don’t sell them!

9. Key messages All deposits are refundable,
Goods defective at 6 months are defective at purchase,
Money-back period >14 days still requires cancellation slip on the bottom of your T & Cs left with the customer,
Giving fewer rights in a longer guarantee period does not reduce the enhanced rights in the 14 day period,
Failure to provide information is an offence,
Failure to give notice of 14 day cancellation right gives 12 month cancellation right,
Data Protection clause should reflect your own policy.
When you are thinking about what you may have to do to your Ts and Cs to comply with new Consumer Protection Regulations, please note that;
-All deposits are refundable within the 14 day cancellation period,
-If the goods are defective within 6 months of purchase they are deemed to be defective at the date of purchase unless the supplier can prove otherwise,
-Even if you provide a money-back period longer than 14 days and it is a sale made in the home or away from your business premises you must include wording similar to clause 9 (right to cancel) and provide a cancellation slip on the bottom of your T & Cs that you leave with the customer. If this is separate from the order form you should get the customer to sign that they have received the form,
-If you give customers fewer rights than the Regulations require in the longer guarantee period you must also give them the enhanced rights in the 14 day period. The standard terms above are however drafted on the basis of one 30 day guarantee period which includes all the statutory rights,
-Failure to provide the additional information is an offence
-Failure to give customers notice of the 14 day cancellation period results in their having a 12 month cancellation period under the Regulations,
-Change clause 16 (Data Protection) to reflect your own policy.

10. Learning Outcomes delivered?
Have I given you
An awareness of changes to consumer protection legislation and practice?
An understanding of what bits will impact on your business and when?
An introduction to BSHAA’s latest Terms and Conditions which should help you not to fall foul of the law?
So have I given you;
An awareness of changes to consumer protection legislation?
An understanding of what bits will affect you, when?
An introduction to BSHAA’s latest Terms and Conditions?
If so, please take away from today the need to review your own business’s Terms and Conditions to ensure that you do not fall foul of some new Consumer Protection Regulations which become law in June.
Thank you