What are your legal obligations after a doorstep or other off-premises sales contract is agreed?

Once a contract has been agreed you must: 

• Provide a copy or confirmation of the contract on paper or another durable medium, no later than when goods are delivered or services start.
• Only take upfront deposits if necessary, for example, to purchase materials needed to start the work, and always ensure that any deposits you take are reasonable and proportionate.
• Deliver goods within 30 days unless another date is agreed.
• Provide services as soon as possible, ensuring that any agreed timescales are honoured.
• Perform services with reasonable care and skill and in accordance with any description you have made.
• Ensure goods are of satisfactory quality and as described.
• Get agreement from the customer before commencing any additional work which is in addition to the original contract. You will also need to provide the required information which is related to this additional work, for example, any new description, the price, and information on the right to cancel.      

Repairs and maintenance contracts

For repairs and/or maintenance contracts, you may not need to provide the full list of required information if:

• the contract is a service only contract
• the customer has explicitly asked you to carry out a service for the purpose of repairs or maintenance (for uninvited visits then you must provide the full list of information)
• you are going to perform the service immediately
• the cost of the contract is £170 or less

That information that should be provided on a durable medium e.g., paper or a personally addressed email includes:

• your name and business address (if you are acting on behalf of another trader their name and business address)
• the total price inclusive of VAT or where the price cannot be reasonably calculated in advance, details of how the price will be calculated and an estimate of cost
• any delivery costs or additional charges
• a cancellation form where the right to cancel exists - see right to cancel consumer contracts

The following details should be ideally provided on a durable medium, but alternatively, they can be made available, for example, via your website:

• characteristics of the product
• their right to cancel, the process for cancellation and details of where the right to cancel does not exist and where the right to cancel is lost