How does the 14-day cooling-off period work?
Wahid Musawi · Co-founder · TelesalesUpdated 31 Aug 2026For most goods and services bought at a distance, by phone or online, UK consumers may cancel within 14 calendar days of the purchase or delivery without giving a reason. The clock starts the day after the contract is made or the goods arrive, the trader must refund within 14 days of cancellation, and the right cannot be signed away.
Where the 14 days come from
The Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 give consumers a cancellation right for distance and off-premises contracts: 14 days for services from the day after the contract, 14 days for goods from the day after delivery. Some purchases sit outside it, tailor-made items, sealed goods unsealed, urgent repairs, and services fully performed within the period with the consumer’s express agreement, but the default for a phone sale is that the right applies.
What it means on a sales call
Everything. A sale that is talked into existence and regretted the next morning is not a sale, it is a refund with paperwork. That is why pressure closing is a false economy on the phone: the customer holds a legal undo button for two weeks. The honest close names the cooling-off right instead of hoping the customer does not know it; a buyer who says yes knowing they can change their mind is a buyer who mostly does not.
How this platform is built around it
A sale here is only verified after the customer confirms in writing and the cooling-off period has passed. Brands are never billed for a cancelled sale, and sellers are paid on sales that stuck rather than sales that were merely closed. The incentive design does what the regulation intends: nobody in the chain profits from a sale the customer did not want.
What sits outside the right
The exceptions are narrow and specific: goods made to the consumer’s specification or clearly personalised, sealed goods unsealed where return would be unhygienic, goods that perish quickly, newspapers, and services already fully performed within the 14 days where the consumer expressly agreed to early performance and acknowledged losing the right. Digital content has its own version: once the download starts with express consent, the right ends. A trader relying on an exception must be able to point at which one; “no refunds” printed on a receipt is not an exception, it is an unenforceable term.
How the refund itself works
Cancellation does not need a reason or a magic phrase, but it must be a clear statement, and proving it was sent is easier by email than by phone. The trader then has 14 days to refund, for goods, running from receiving them back or from proof of return postage. The refund covers the price and basic outbound delivery; it can be reduced for handling beyond what a shop would allow, and delivery upgrades are the consumer’s to absorb. For services cancelled mid-period after an agreed early start, a proportionate charge for what was already delivered is lawful.
This describes the consumer rules in general terms and is not legal advice. Edge cases, digital content, bespoke goods, services started early, have their own rules; check the regulations or the Citizens Advice consumer service for a specific case.
Related questions, answered short
Does the 14-day cooling-off period apply to everything?
No. It applies to most goods and services bought at a distance or off-premises, but not to personalised or perishable goods, unsealed hygiene-sensitive items, fully performed services agreed to start early, or digital content once downloading begins with consent. In-store purchases have no statutory cooling-off right at all; returns there are whatever the shop’s policy says.
When does the cooling-off period start?
For services, the day after the contract is made. For goods, the day after delivery of the last item. Calendar days, not working days, and if the trader never told you about the right, the window extends by up to 12 months.
Can a company refuse the cooling-off period?
Not where it applies. The right comes from regulations, not from the trader’s goodwill, and a term purporting to waive it is unenforceable. A company can only decline where a genuine statutory exception covers the purchase, and it should be able to name it.