Home > CONSUMER > DISABILITY DISCRIMINATION IN GOODS AND SERVICES

This fact sheet will give you some basic information about disability discrimination in goods and services. You can also listen to it online or download it onto an MP3 player.

Please be aware that this is not legal advice and if you are concerned about any of the issues mentioned you should speak to a lawyer.

You can contact Russell Jones & Walker's solicitors at enquiries@rjw.co.uk or call our freephone number 0800 916 9065.

How am I protected when using goods and services?

The Disability Discrimination Act makes it illegal for providers of goods and services to treat you less favourably because of your disability. Providers also have to make reasonable adjustments to ensure you can access goods and services.

You are protected if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a major and long-lasting effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. This includes having a learning disability, depression or conditions like cancer or HIV.

The government estimates that 8.5 million people are protected under this Act and less than five per cent are wheelchair users.

What sort of goods and services are covered?

The law does not define goods and services, but it is likely to include:

• Access to and use of any place the public are allowed to enter
• Access to and use of communication and information services
• Accommodation in a hotel
• Housing provided by a landlord, housing association or local authority
• Financial services such as banking, insurance, credit and loans
• Entertainment, leisure or eating facilities
• Services provided by any profession, trade or public authority

The law applies to all service providers, whether public, private or voluntary organisations. It doesn't matter if the service is provided for free or for payment. This means you are protected from discrimination in a wide range of places, including restaurants, pubs, supermarkets, hotels, banks and shops.

Private members clubs are covered by the law if they have 25 or more members.

What sort of behaviour counts as discrimination?

It is discrimination when you are treated less favourably than someone else because of your disability. For example, if a restaurant refuses to serve someone with a facial disfigurement because it does not fit their image.

There can also be less favourable treatment between people with different types of disability. So if the restaurant above serves someone in a wheelchair, it doesn't mean it didn't discriminate against the person with the facial disfigurement.

You are also entitled to get the same level of service as other people who aren't disabled. So if the manager of a pub told someone with a learning disability to sit out of sight of other customers when other tables were free, that would be discriminatory.

Bad treatment is not necessarily less favourable treatment. But if the service provider is inflexible or unfair this may count as discrimination.

Positive action in favour of disabled people is allowed, for example, providing better seats to people with visual or hearing difficulties at no extra cost.

Can less favourable treatment ever be justified?

It can only be justified if it meets one of five conditions:

• It is necessary so as not to endanger anyone's health and safety
• The disabled person lacks the capacity to make an enforceable agreement
• Otherwise the service wouldn't be provided at all (e.g. a short guided tour might be impossible if someone had severe mobility problems)
• A lower standard is necessary for the service to be provided
• The different terms of the service reflect the greater cost of providing it individually to a disabled person (but you can't be charged for general disability adjustments).

What sort of reasonable adjustments need to be made?

Service providers must take reasonable steps to ensure you can access their services. To do this, they have to anticipate, plan and keep reviewing the adjustments they have to make. This includes:

• Changing practices, policies and procedures
• Providing auxiliary aids and services
• Removing or altering physical features or providing the service in an alternative way.

For example, if customers in a clothes shop need to fill in a form to order out-of-stock items, this would discriminate against people who can't write. The shop would need to consider speech-recognition software or have a member of staff fill in the form.

How do you decide if something is "reasonable"?

The law doesn't define what is reasonable, but it will depend on the type of service and the size and resources of the service provider.

Things that will be taken into account when deciding if something is "reasonable" are likely to include the practicality and cost of making the adjustment, whether it would help you access the service and any adjustments already made. So a bank is more likely to have to make costly adjustments than a small shop.

How do I make a claim for discrimination?

You will have to make a claim in the county court. The time limit for doing this is six months from when the discriminatory act took place(or the last time it happened if it was more than once ).

You can get financial compensation and the court can also ask the organisation to put the situation right. Typical awards range from £500 to £5,000.

You can ask the organisation you are claiming against to fill in a questionnaire about your claim. You can do this before you actually start a claim and it might help you decide whether to go ahead or not. If the organisation doesn't respond within eight weeks, or if they don't respond properly, then the court can decide they did discriminate.

The Equality and Human Rights Council runs an independent conciliation service to help settle disputes. For contact details see the EHRC website or call 0845 604 6610 in England, 0845 604 8810 in Wales or 0845 604 5510 in Scotland.