Doorstep Selling Rights

From this month you will have seven days to change your mind if you buy something from a salesperson who visits your home. The Doorstep Selling Regulations cover all types of goods and services, such as double glazing or gas or electricity contracts.

You have always had a week’s cooling-off period if you bought from a salesperson you did not invite to your home, but changes to the law mean you are now protected if you did ask them to visit, providing the goods or services cost more than £35. Under the new regulations, doorstep sellers must also inform you in writing of your right to cancel.

Follow a complaint by Citizens Advice in 2004 about doorstep selling, research by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) showed that 94 per cent of consumers did not know about their rights when buying through doorstep selling and most people felt buying in the home was more pressurised than in other setting.

The OFT is launching an awareness campaign to remind you of your new rights. For more information, visit the Consumer Direct website at http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk.

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