Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 50

Information about the trader or service to be binding

PART 1 Consumer contracts for goods, digital content and services

(1)Every contract to supply a service is to be treated as including as a term of the contract anything that is said or written to the consumer, by or on behalf of the trader, about the trader or the service, if—

(a)it is taken into account by the consumer when deciding to enter into the contract, or

(b)it is taken into account by the consumer when making any decision about the service after entering into the contract.

(2)Anything taken into account by the consumer as mentioned in subsection (1)(a) or (b) is subject to—

(a)anything that qualified it and was said or written to the consumer by the trader on the same occasion, and

(b)any change to it that has been expressly agreed between the consumer and the trader (before entering into the contract or later).

(3)Without prejudice to subsection (1), any information provided by the trader in accordance with regulation 9, 10 or 13 of the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/3134) is to be treated as included as a term of the contract.

(4)A change to any of the information mentioned in subsection (3), made before entering into the contract or later, is not effective unless expressly agreed between the consumer and the trader.

(5)See section 54 for a consumer's rights if the trader is in breach of a term that this section requires to be treated as included in a contract.

Definitions used in section 50 3

contract to supply a service

(4) A contract to which this Chapter applies is referred to in this Part as a “contract to supply a service”.

Defined in s.48(4) · see it in the full Act
Consumer

(3) “Consumer” means an individual acting for purposes that are wholly or mainly outside that individual's trade, business, craft or profession.

Defined in s.2(3) · see it in the full Act
Trader

(2) “Trader” means a person acting for purposes relating to that person's trade, business, craft or profession, whether acting personally or through another person acting in the trader's name or on the trader's behalf.

Defined in s.2(2) · see it in the full Act

(8) In this paragraph “trader” has the same meaning as in Part 1 of this Act .

Defined in Sch.5 para.27(8) · see it in the full Act

Cases considering section 50 4

Ryan Perrett v Wolferstans LLP

[2025] EWHC 68 (SCCO) · 17 January 2025Interprets

A representation about the service may become a contractual term if the consumer takes it into account when entering the contract. The alleged general statement about a no-win, no-fee arrangement did not establish an additional term on the facts. (see paras [63]–[69]) The court considered whether the alleged receptionist’s statement was taken into account when the claimant entered the retainer. It found that the evidence did not establish the alleged representation or any additional contractual term. (see paras [63]–[69]) The court treated later written settlement instructions and the claimant’s agreement to the deduction as relevant qualification or express agreement concerning any earlier representation. (see paras [63]–[69])

Guiliano Davide Stella v Hodge Jones & Allan LLP

[2024] EWHC 1704 (SCCO) · 2 July 2024

The claimant raised section 50 as part of the estimates issue. The court recorded the point but did not determine its substantive application, relying instead on the existence of issues requiring explanation when assessing special circumstances. (see paras [34], [37])

Donegan & Ors, R (On the Application Of) v Financial Services Compensation Scheme Ltd

[2021] EWHC 760 (Admin) · 29 March 2021

Was relied on by the claimants as treating pre-contractual statements as contractual terms. The court did not need to resolve the argument because section 69 did not apply to the contradiction identified. (see para [150])

What each judgment says about section 50 is in the case-law panel in the full Act.

Explanatory note

246.This is a new provision in that there is no corresponding provision in the SGSA. It is incorporated here for two reasons:

  • Firstly, there may be consumer detriment where a trader may say something to a consumer, which the consumer then relies on, but which the trader later does not comply with. Whilst it may be the case that the proper legal construction is that these statements are validly incorporated into the contract as express terms, a trader may try to argue that they are not contractually bound by the statement; and

  • Secondly, for certain contracts, the 2013 Regulations mandate that certain information must be made available by a trader to a consumer before the consumer is bound by a contract. To enable enforcement of those Regulations, the Act makes clear that these pieces of information will form part of the contract – so that the service must be provided as stated in the information - which cannot be altered unless the parties expressly agree otherwise (although it may not be necessary to do so where the pre-contract information itself reflects the fact that the particular potential changes envisaged may be made). This part of the 2013 Regulations aims to ensure that consumers are properly informed of key information before they are bound by a contract. Certain services are excluded from the scope of the 2013 Regulations and therefore from this provision, such as financial and gambling services.

247.Section 50 may be considered in two parts to deal with these two objectives above.

248.Firstly, the section requires that that the trader providing the service must comply with information it has provided, orally or in writing (e.g. a description it has given of the service to be provided), where the consumer has taken this information into account when making any decision about the service (including whether to enter into the contract). This information must be read in the context of everything else in the contract and other information given. This is to prevent the consumer being able to rely on some information, where the trader clearly qualified that information when giving it to the consumer. Subsection (2) makes this clear.

249.The information given covers both information about the service and other information the trader gives about the trader itself (e.g. information about its trading practices, such as a commitment to paying its workers the minimum wage). Different remedies apply depending on whether the information is about the service or is other information that the trader gives (see below).

250.Secondly, the section explains that information provided which was required under the 2013 Regulations is also to be treated as included in the contract. Therefore, the trader must comply with the information it has provided or be in breach of contract.

251.For both types of information (that required under 2013 Regulations and information provided by the trader voluntarily) this section also makes clear that the trader and consumer can later agree a change to the contract if, for example, circumstances change. A trader will not however be able to change the effect of this information without the agreement of the consumer, unless the information itself reflects the fact that the particular potential changes envisaged may be made (or, in the case of information provided voluntarily by the trader, the trader otherwise qualified the information on the same occasion as providing it). Variation provisions in a contract between a trader and a consumer must also comply with Part 2 of the Act on unfair terms. For neither type of information can the parties agree a change which would deprive the consumer of his or her rights under this Chapter (see section 57).

252.For example, a consumer invites a trader to their home where they agree a contract for the fitting of windows. The consumer chooses that trader to fit wooden windows on the basis that the trader said that it would install and fully finish the frames. If, after fitting the windows, the fitter would only prime the frame and told the consumer to paint them him/herself, the trader would not have complied with the information it gave the consumer, and which the consumer had taken into account. Under the 2013 Regulations, for services within scope, the trader must give the consumer the “main characteristics” of the service and the service must comply with those characteristics. This is in addition to the right that the service must generally comply with any information given to the consumer by the trader which the consumer takes into account when deciding to enter into the contract

All the explanatory notes for the Act

Amendments and notes

2 notes from legislation.gov.uk

Commencement

  1. I53S. 50 in force at 1.10.2015 for specified purposes by S.I. 2015/1630, art. 3(c) (with art. 6(1)) text for certain specified purposes only, see the commentary.
  2. I54S. 50 in force at 1.10.2016 in so far as not already in force by S.I. 2015/1630, art. 4(b) (with art. 6(2)) (as amended by S.I. 2016/484, art. 2)