Returns, refunds and delivery policy

Online shops routinely write one returns policy and assume it covers everything. It does not, because two separate regimes apply and a customer may rely on either.

The first is the right to change your mind: a fourteen day cancellation right that consumers buying at a distance have under the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, whether or not there is anything wrong with the goods. The second is the set of rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 where goods are faulty, damaged or not as described: a short-term right to reject within thirty days, then repair or replacement, then a price reduction or final right to reject.

You can add to these rights, never reduce them

A term that tries to cut either set down is not binding on the consumer, so it achieves nothing except to suggest the business does not know the rules. What you can do is go further: a longer returns window, free return postage, no-quibble exchanges. Every change you make to this template should be checked against the statutory minimum in that direction.

The exceptions are narrower than shops think

The cancellation right does not apply to goods made to the customer's specification or clearly personalised, to sealed goods unsealed after delivery where return is not appropriate for health or hygiene reasons, or to perishable goods. "Custom" and "personalised" are read strictly, and choosing between existing options is usually not enough to qualify.

Delivery and risk

Goods remain at the trader's risk until they come into the physical possession of the consumer, so a parcel lost or damaged in transit is the shop's problem rather than the customer's, whatever the courier's terms say. Where no delivery period is agreed, the goods must be delivered without undue delay and in any event within thirty days.

Refunds have timescales

On cancellation, the refund is due within fourteen days of the goods coming back or of proof of return, and must include the standard delivery cost the customer originally paid, though not the premium element of an upgraded service. Getting this wrong is the commonest complaint the trading standards service sees on returns.

Where to put it

On the site, linked from the basket and the checkout before the customer pays, and sent with the order confirmation. Cancellation information that only appears after payment has not been given properly, and failing to give it can extend the cancellation period substantially.

This policy sits alongside website terms of use, terms of sale and a privacy notice. Our e-commerce solicitors put the set together.