Enforcing Your Civil and Consumer Rights

When it comes to enforcing your civil and consumer rights there are some consumer protection issues to consider. Whenever a consumer purchases goods or services they do have certain civil rights that are enforceable by law.

Consumer Rights

All consumers have certain civil rights when it comes to purchasing goods and services. Consumer rights usually come under the remit of the law covered in acts such as the Sale of Goods Act 1979 and also the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982. There are a number of other acts that protect the rights of consumers such as the Consumer Protection Act 1987. All of these acts give the consumer a degree of protection whenever they purchase goods and services from a trader.

Enforcing your Consumer Rights

Regardless of the goods and services purchased there should always be some level of protection available to the consumer. Purchases can range from simply buying groceries in a local store to purchasing a home, buying a car, employing tradesmen or using a service such as telephone rental. The consumer will have rights and as such these rights can be enforced should any problems occur with the goods or the purchased services. There are a great many places where advice can be found regarding enforcing consumer rights but in the end it will be up to the consumer to initially challenge traders.

The Civil Courts

The first steps towards enforcing consumer rights will be to challenge the trader. If the consumer does not obtain any satisfaction then the next step could be court action. However, taking a case to the civil courts will cost time and money and should only be used as a last resort. Most cases will be allocated to the small claims division in a country court. Disgruntled consumers will need to work out exactly what they are going to claim for. This could be the outright cost of the purchase but may also be compensation due to losses that occurred to the consumer due to breach of contract.

Types of Compensation

There are a number of different types of claims and compensation available that will be dependant on the purchase. For example, a claim for the purchase of a holiday package that ended disastrously due to the holiday company’s errors could include expenses that the customer had to spend during the holiday. This case could also include compensation for the inconvenience and distress that occurred during the holiday. However, claims should be kept to a minimum and not padded for extra compensation.

The County Court

Consumer cases will normally be heard in the county court in England, Wales and Northern Ireland; in Scotland it will be the sheriff court. The small claims process will be used if the financial amount is £5,000 or less. By using the small claims process the time spent in the court should be reduced, which will also mean less cost to the consumer. If the case is for a higher amount or is a more detailed case then it may be heard in the High Court.

Financial Aid

If action is to be taken through the courts then a solicitor will usually be required and this will involve solicitor’s fees. Unfortunately there is no type of financial aid available when it comes to consumer cases. Many people are under the understanding that they will be entitled to legal aid if they cannot afford to pay for solicitors but this is not the case with consumer cases. A solicitor may under some circumstances be prepared to arrange a conditional fee agreement, which means, “no win, no fee”. This type of fee should be discussed with the solicitor at the initial meeting.

Although consumers are protected and can take traders to court this process should only be used after much consideration. There may be heavy expenses to the consumer before the case actually arrives in court. It should also be remembered that the expenses may outweigh the actual award or compensation. Consumers should always try to come to some form of arrangement with the trader before resorting to the legal process.