Advice for commercial vehicle retailers on distance selling for B2B contracts from Peter Stonely

On last week’s LCV webinar, we were joined by Chartered Trading Institute Lead Officer, Peter Stonely. We had been inundated with questions from commercial vehicle retailers about how the distance selling advice might differ between business and consumer transactions, and Peter gave us all we needed to know.

He outlined the importance of knowing whether you are selling to a business or a consumer, which will be potentially different from transaction to transaction. The reason for this is because B2B contracts aren’t covered by the same consumer protection laws.

The Sale of Goods Act will apply if the vehicle is faulty instead of the Consumer Rights Act, but if you are selling at a distance to a business then there is no obligation to give a cooling off period – the rules affecting distance selling only apply to B2C transactions. This doesn’t mean you can’t offer them, but this would be your choice, on a voluntary basis rather than as a requirement.

Peter also reinforced the importance of giving true and honest descriptions as required by law, even when selling to a business. If you don’t maintain accurate descriptions, a buyer – business or consumer – could use their sales of goods rights, to reject the vehicle, and accuse you of false descriptions.

If you are selling to a consumer, then all the normal consumer protection law will apply, and Peter covers this in depth in this recent blog post.

For consumer distance (where you have completed the transaction and are just delivering the van to a consumer’s home) and doorstep (where you are bringing the van to a consumer for them to look over and decide if they want it and then complete the transaction) contracts, you have to provide the cooling off period that ends 14 days after they got the vehicle.

If you are dealing with a consumer, those rights will always apply, but according to Peter, the biggest challenge is to identify who is a business and who is a consumer. His recommendation (particularly for selling online) for van retailers is to include something in your T&Cs asking consumers buying for personal use to highlight this, otherwise consumer law won’t apply.

In summary if you’re selling to a business then you don’t need to worry about those distance selling rules, but you must work hard to identify consumers and treat them as consumers.  If in any doubt check with the buyer to protect your business.

To watch the webinar back, on-demand, in full, click here.