Guernsey islanders get leaflet on new consumer legislation

The new law will come into force in October

Leaflets on new consumer legislation which comes into force in October will be sent to all Guernsey households this week, the States says.

The legislation sets clear standards which traders and businesses must follow but also protects consumers from unfair practices, it said.

The leaflet aims to help people understand what the new rights are.

The legislation was passed by the States of Guernsey earlier in 2023 and will come into force on 2 October.

The States said the new rights broken down into five key impacts were:

• Clear and simple consumer rights when buying goods, services and digital content - goods and digital content must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose, and as described. Services need to be performed with reasonable care and skill.

• Clear remedies when consumer rights are broken - for goods, consumers have a short-term right to reject, a right to repair and replacement, and a final right to reject. Digital content should be repaired or replaced if unfit. Services should be repeated if not fit, and consumers have a right to a price reduction if rights are broken.

• Consumers have the right to full, clear and comprehensive information about goods, digital content and services. Certain information must be provided by the trader before the consumer is bound by the contract.

• An obligation for business to trade fairly and honestly with consumers - banning unfair commercial practices, misleading actions and omissions, aggressive practices, unfair terms and unsafe products.

• A requirement for products to be safe. Businesses will also be required to share information about unsafe products with Trading Standards and for Trading Standards to compile and share that information onwards.

The law is due to only apply to Guernsey, Herm and Jethou.

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