Misleading and aggressive selling: your right to unwind a contract

UK law bans traders from misleading you or pressuring you into buying, and it gives you private rights that go beyond simply cancelling a contract. If a trader used a misleading action or an aggressive practice, and it was a significant factor in your decision to buy, you may be entitled to unwind the contract within 90 days and get your money back, to keep what you bought but pay 25% to 100% less, or to claim damages for financial loss, distress or inconvenience¹.

These rights began in the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, which were brought in to implement a European directive on unfair business-to-consumer practices and extended to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland¹. The 2008 Regulations were revoked on 6 April 2025 and their general prohibition on unfair trading was restated in the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, but the redress rights themselves continue under transitional provisions until new regulations bring the Act's own version into force³. In practice, the three rights work today much as they have since 2014.

The rules that ban misleading and aggressive selling

The starting point is a simple prohibition: unfair commercial practices are banned. The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 states this in Chapter 1 of Part 4, which confers protections on consumers from unfair commercial practices, including their promotion in or in connection with a code of conduct³. That chapter took effect on 6 April 2025⁵.

A commercial practice is unfair if it is likely to cause the average consumer to take a transactional decision they would not otherwise take, through a misleading action, a misleading omission, an aggressive practice or a breach of professional diligence, or if it omits material information from an invitation to purchase, or if it is one of the practices listed in Schedule 20 to the Act⁴. The Act also creates criminal offences: a trader commits an offence if they engage in an unfair commercial practice involving a misleading action, a misleading omission, an aggressive practice, a contravention of professional diligence with knowledge or recklessness, or an omitted material detail in an invitation to purchase⁷.

Before April 2025 the same ground was covered by the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, which implemented Directive 2005/29/EC on unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices¹. The 2008 Regulations were revoked by section 251 of the 2024 Act with effect from 6 April 2025, subject to transitional provisions that keep the redress rights alive until regulations are made under section 233 of the Act³. So the law has changed shape, but the ban on misleading and aggressive selling has not gone away. The wider context is covered in consumer protection in UK financial services.

Misleading actions, misleading omissions and aggressive practices

The Act's sections 226 to 230 give the detail of practices that are unfair because they mislead, are aggressive, omit material information, or fall short of professional diligence⁶. A "prohibited practice" for the purposes of the redress rights means an unfair commercial practice involving either a misleading action or an aggressive practice⁵.

A misleading action involves false information, or information that is deceptive in some other way, that leads or is likely to lead the average consumer to take a transactional decision they would not otherwise have taken. A misleading omission occurs where a practice omits material information, omits information the trader is required to give under another enactment, or fails to identify its commercial intent³. Hiding a mandatory fee until the last step of a booking is the classic example, and it is now singled out: the Act prohibits drip pricing of unavoidable fees by requiring traders to set out in an invitation to purchase the total price of a product, including any mandatory fees, taxes and charges⁸.

An aggressive practice involves harassment, coercion or undue influence that significantly impairs the average consumer's freedom of choice or conduct. Pressure selling on the doorstep, repeated unwanted calls, or a salesperson who will not leave until you sign can all fall within it.

The European directive behind these rules was updated in 2019 to add protections including a ban on stating that a review of a product has been submitted by a real consumer where it has not, and it confirms that consumers harmed by unfair commercial practices must have access to proportionate and effective remedies, including compensation, a price reduction or termination of the contract⁹. The UK rules carry that same structure through.

Who counts as a consumer and what is covered

A consumer under these rules is an individual acting for purposes that are wholly or mainly outside that individual's business⁵. Buying for yourself, your family or your household counts. Buying mainly for your business does not, though the boundary can be fine: under the Consumer Credit Act 1974, sole traders are protected as individuals¹⁰. The definition is consistent across consumer law: the Consumer Rights Act 2015 applies where there is an agreement between a trader and a consumer for the trader to supply goods, digital content or services¹¹.

The redress rights are triggered when three conditions are met. First, you entered into a business-to-consumer contract, a consumer-to-business contract, or made a consumer payment to a trader. Second, the trader engaged in a prohibited practice, meaning a misleading action or an aggressive practice. Third, the prohibited practice was a significant factor in your decision to enter the contract or make the payment². That third condition is what the frequently asked question about proving causation turns on: you do not have to show the misleading information was the only reason you bought, only that it was a significant factor.

What counts as a "product" is broad. It includes goods, meaning tangible moveable items, and digital content, meaning data produced and supplied in digital form². But it does not include a service provided in the course of carrying on a regulated activity under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, other than certain restricted-use credit agreements, which is the main way financial services fall outside these rights².

Your three rights: unwind, discount or damages

Where a misleading action or aggressive practice has been used and the conditions are met, the law gives three separate rights: the right to unwind the contract, the right to a discount, and the right to damages¹². The 2024 Act contains a power for the Secretary of State to provide these same three rights by regulations, and until those regulations are made the 2008 Regulations' version continues in force³.

The three rights do different jobs and suit different situations:

One important limit runs through all of them: a contract is not void or unenforceable merely because the trader breached the prohibition on unfair trading, except as a result of your rights of redress⁴. In other words, the contract cannot simply be ignored; one of the rights has to be exercised. And there is no double recovery: a consumer may not recover under these rules and under another rule of law or equity in respect of the same conduct². These rights sit alongside the ordinary remedies under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, which for goods that do not conform are the short-term right to reject, the right to repair or replacement, and the right to a price reduction or the final right to reject, but again not so as to recover twice for the same loss.

The right to unwind: 90 days to get your money back

The right to unwind lets you cancel the contract and get back what you paid. The window is 90 days, beginning with the later of the day you entered into the contract and the "relevant day", which is tied to when you had reason to become aware of the prohibited practice¹. The 90 days is a hard limit for this particular right: once it passes, unwinding is no longer available, though the discount and damages rights can still be used.

To the extent money was paid under the contract, the consumer is entitled to receive back the same amount². There is one deduction to know about: where the product is supplied on a regular or continuous basis over more than one month, such as a subscription or a service delivered over time, the refund can be reduced by a market price for what was actually consumed during the period². The deduction covers the value of what was received before the contract was unwound, while the refund returns the rest of what was paid.

In Scotland, proceedings to enforce the right to unwind may be brought before the sheriff or in the Court of Session². In England and Wales and Northern Ireland the ordinary civil courts handle such claims. If the trader refuses to unwind the contract, your route is a civil claim, and the small claims routes are covered in small claims court in England and Wales, simple procedure in Scotland and small claims in Northern Ireland.

Discounts of 25% to 100%, depending on how serious the practice was

If you would rather keep the product, or the 90-day window has closed, you can claim a discount on the price you paid. The size of the discount depends on how serious the prohibited practice was, and the law sets four bands¹:

The percentages are worked out on the relevant payments you made under the contract¹. A 100% discount for a very serious practice is in effect a full refund while keeping the product, which is why the seriousness assessment matters so much. There is no fixed formula for which band applies; it depends on the nature of the misleading action or aggressive practice and its effect on you.

There is one special rule for larger purchases. Where the amount payable under the contract exceeds £5,000 and the market price of the product is lower than what you agreed to pay, the discount is the percentage difference between the market price and the amount payable, rather than the band percentages². This targets situations where a misleading practice led you to pay well over the odds for something expensive.

A discount under these rules is a different thing from the price reduction you can claim under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 for goods or services that are not as described or not of satisfactory quality. That Act requires a refund under the price reduction right to be given without undue delay, and in any event within 14 days beginning with the day the trader agrees you are entitled to it¹³. The unfair trading discount is claimed under the 2008 Regulations' redress provisions instead, and the two cannot be stacked for the same conduct².

Claiming damages for loss or distress

The third right covers harm beyond the price. You are entitled to damages for financial loss, or for alarm, distress or physical inconvenience or discomfort, that you would not have incurred or suffered but for the prohibited practice². This is deliberately wider than ordinary contract damages, which usually ignore distress and inconvenience. Someone harassed at home by a persistent salesperson, or caused real anxiety by a misleading claim, can be compensated for that under these rules even where a contract claim would give nothing.

A consumer with a right to redress may bring a claim in civil proceedings to enforce it². The trader has one defence worth knowing about: they can resist a claim for damages if they prove the prohibited practice was due to a mistake, reliance on information supplied by another person, the act or default of another person, an accident or another cause beyond their control, and that they took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid it². This is a demanding test, and it applies to damages, not to your right to unwind or to a discount.

The right to damages cannot be used to recover twice. If you have already been compensated for the same conduct under another rule of law or equity, or under another enactment, you cannot be compensated again under these rules². Where your complaint is about a financial firm, a different route may apply: the Financial Ombudsman Service can consider distress and inconvenience when it upholds a complaint, and choosing between that route and court is covered in ombudsman or small claims court.

Where the rights do not apply: financial services and mortgages

The most important limit for readers of this site is the financial services exclusion. In the redress provisions, "product" does not include a service provided in the course of carrying on a regulated activity within the meaning of section 22 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, other than certain restricted-use credit agreements². In plain terms, most regulated financial products and services, such as banking, insurance, investment and pension services sold by authorised firms, fall outside the right to unwind, the discount and damages under these rules.

Mortgages are excluded too. The redress provisions do not apply to an agreement under which the borrower's obligation to repay is secured by a legal or equitable mortgage on land, other than timeshare accommodation². So if you were misled in the selling of a mortgage, these particular rights do not apply, and your route is the firm's complaints process and, if needed, the Financial Ombudsman Service, which can consider mis-selling complaints about regulated firms.

The same pattern appears elsewhere in consumer law. The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 do not apply to contracts for services of a banking, credit, insurance, personal pension, investment or payment nature¹⁴. The Financial Ombudsman Service has noted that it is not aware of areas where consumer protection legislation outside the Consumer Credit Act mirrors or replicates the CCA's effects, which underlines how much financial services rely on their own regime¹⁵. Some protections do reach into unregulated territory: the unfair relationship provisions of the Consumer Credit Act extend to unregulated credit agreements and unauthorised firms¹⁰, and the FCA publishes a list of products it does not regulate, including unregulated buy now pay later, buy-to-let mortgages and timeshares¹⁶. For those, ordinary consumer law, including the unfair trading rules where a product is outside the regulated activity exclusion, may be your only protection. See also what the FSCS does not cover for where deposit and investment protection stops.

What has changed under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act

The 2024 Act is the biggest overhaul of consumer protection law in a generation. It creates a new regime to increase competition in digital markets by conferring powers on the Competition and Markets Authority, updates competition and consumer protection enforcement, and gives consumers protections in respect of unfair commercial practices, subscription traps and prepayments to savings schemes⁸. The House of Commons Library summarises the approach: revoke the 2008 Regulations, which were retained EU law, and recreate their effect with minor amendments¹⁷.

The 2008 Regulations were revoked in April 2025, but their redress rights continue under transitional provisions.

For your day-to-day rights, the position as of September 2025 is that the CPRs' provisions on rights of redress will be replaced by similar ones in the 2024 Act, but the Act's own redress provisions are not yet in force¹². Until regulations under section 233 of the Act are made, the 2008 Regulations' Part 4A continues to do the work¹. The Act also adds new protections beyond misleading and aggressive selling: it bans fake consumer reviews, imposes duties on subscription contracts including cancellation rights and cooling-off periods, and protects payments to consumer saving scheme contracts⁸. Drip pricing is banned outright, as described above, and the government's consultation response confirmed that traders must provide the total price including all mandatory fees when the headline price is displayed¹⁸. The CMA's enforcement powers have grown too: it can now fine companies infringing consumer protection law up to 10% of their global turnover, or £300,000 where that is higher¹⁹, and it has opened investigations into firms over subscription marketing and drip pricing.

Time limits in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

The 90-day period for unwinding a contract applies across the UK, but the deadline for taking a claim to court depends on where you live. In England and Wales, the Limitation Act 1980 applies to a claim under these rules as if it were an action founded on simple contract². Guidance puts a breach of contract claim at six years from the date of the breach in England and Wales²⁰. In Northern Ireland, the Limitation (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 applies on the same basis, as if the claim were founded on simple contract². In Scotland, proceedings to enforce the right to unwind may be brought before the sheriff or in the Court of Session².

Two other deadlines matter in practice. Where a trader agrees you are entitled to a refund, guidance states the refund must be given without undue delay and in any event within 14 days from the time they agreed you were entitled to it²⁰. And if your problem is really about a faulty product or poor service rather than misleading selling, different clocks apply: you have a legal right to a refund from a retailer for faulty goods within 30 days in Scotland²¹, and the ordinary statutory remedies are explained in your statutory rights.

How to make a claim and where to get help

Start by gathering evidence. Guidance on proving a consumer claim advises collecting what was said and shown: adverts, screenshots, texts, emails, invoices and notes of conversations with dates¹². The more you can show what the trader told you before you bought, the easier it is to show the practice was a significant factor in your decision.

The claim process runs from gathering evidence to court, with advice and resolution routes in between.

Then write to the trader, setting out what happened, which practice you say was misleading or aggressive, and what you are claiming: an unwind within 90 days, a discount, or damages. Keep the letter factual and attach copies of your evidence. If the trader refuses, you can escalate. Alternative dispute resolution, where a trader subscribes to a scheme, is covered in alternative dispute resolution for disputes with traders. For court claims, use the small claims route for your nation: England and Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.

For free help, Trading Standards is the enforcement body: you can contact your local authority and ask to speak to Trading Standards, or report problems through the consumer helplines²². In Northern Ireland, Consumerline offers an online service to make a complaint against a trader, report a fraud or ask about your consumer rights, where you give details of what happened and when, the trader's contact details, and whether you have contacted the trader and whether they replied²³. Consumerline and Trading Standards enforce the law and advise, but they do not generally recover your money for you; the claim itself is yours to make. If the trader's conduct involves a regulated financial firm, the route is the firm's complaints process and then the ombudsman, as explained in how to complain to a financial firm and taking a complaint to the ombudsman. Related rights that often sit alongside these ones include unfair contract terms and cooling-off periods.