Consumer protection: Unfair Trading Regulations 2008

The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading regulations 2008, known as the ‘Unfair Trading Regulations’, came into force on 26 May 2008, and implement in the UK the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive (2005/29/EC). The Regulations have significant importance in the marketing and selling of goods and services.

The Unfair Trading Regulations impose a general prohibition on traders in all sectors from engaging in unfair commercial practices with consumers. Specifically, the Regulations protect consumers from unfair or misleading trading practices and ban misleading omissions and aggressive sales tactics. It follows from this that there is a duty to trade fairly and honestly with consumers. In the main, the Regulations apply to “business to consumer” practices. Amendments to the Unfair Trading Regulations came into force on 1 October 2014, giving consumers new rights of redress if they have been the victim of misleading actions or aggressive selling. 

The purpose of this Library briefing paper is to provide a brief overview of the Regulations and their usefulness to consumers.