The Journal

Returning something without a receipt: what UK law actually asks you to prove

Shops ask for the till receipt, and the Consumer Rights Act never mentions one. This piece separates the faulty-goods claim, where the law is behind you and the evidence can be a bank statement or the packaging, from the change-of-mind return, where there is no statutory right at all. It answers the evidential question only: what you must be able to show, in a shop, online and on a gift.

Two different transactions wearing the same question

One question at the returns desk hides two transactions with almost nothing in common. In the first, something is wrong with the goods: they are faulty, or they do not do the job you told the shop you needed them for, or they are not what the label said. In the second, nothing is wrong with them and you have changed your mind.

Only the first is a matter of law. On the second, Citizens Advice is unambiguous: "You don't have an automatic right to get your money back if you just change your mind about something you've bought and there's nothing wrong with it." The same page adds that the price makes no difference, and that it is "really down to the seller whether they offer you anything". Its England and Scotland editions carry both sentences word for word, read on 14 September 2026. The government's guidance to retailers on GOV.UK, owned by the Competition and Markets Authority with the Department for Business and Trade, puts the reverse of it: you need not refund a customer who no longer wants an item, unless they bought it without seeing it.

The first fork is therefore not evidential at all: it is about what is wrong with the thing, and the proof question arises only on the branch where the law is behind you. Buying without seeing the goods opens a third route, on its own timetable, dealt with below.

What the Consumer Rights Act asks for, in its own words

Three terms are treated as part of every consumer contract to supply goods. Section 9(1) of the Consumer Rights Act 2015: "Every contract to supply goods is to be treated as including a term that the quality of the goods is satisfactory." Section 11(1): "Every contract to supply goods by description is to be treated as including a term that the goods will match the description." Section 10 adds fitness for a particular purpose, where the consumer made that purpose known to the trader before the contract was made.

Section 9(3) adds appearance and finish, freedom from minor defects, safety and durability to the aspects of quality. Section 11(3) closes an obvious gap: goods do not stop being sold by description merely because they were on display and you picked them up yourself. These sections extend to the whole United Kingdom.

Now the part that decides the question. Chapter 2 of Part 1 — sections 3 to 32, the whole of the consumer's rights in goods — contains neither the word "receipt" nor the phrase "proof of purchase". In thirty sections it does not contain the word "proof" at all. The Act confers the rights and says nothing about how you evidence the purchase.

It does address attempts to make those rights conditional. Section 31 provides that a term is not binding on the consumer to the extent that it would "make such a right or remedy or its enforcement subject to a restrictive or onerous condition", or "exclude or restrict rules of evidence or procedure". A rule of no refund without the original till receipt, applied to a faulty-goods claim, is both of those things. That is a reading of the statute rather than decided authority: no reported case was found on whether a till receipt can be demanded for a statutory claim.

What counts as proof of purchase: an open test, not a closed list

The obvious thing to put here is a closed list. There is no such list, and publishing one would repeat the error the page exists to correct. Neither body usually cited has one: Citizens Advice's faulty-goods page, "Return faulty goods", is now an interactive tool whose static text contains neither "receipt" nor "proof of purchase", and the Competition and Markets Authority's guidance on unfair contract terms (CMA37, 134 pages) and on unfair commercial practices (CMA207, 64 pages) never uses the phrase "proof of purchase" at all.

Instead there are two open tests, both from government sources addressed to traders rather than shoppers. The same GOV.UK guidance to retailers, "Accepting returns and giving refunds: the law", last updated on 18 August 2015, says a trader may ask the customer for proof that they bought the item, and that this "could be a sales receipt or other evidence such as a bank statement or packaging".

The Chartered Trading Standards Institute's Business Companion service — government-backed guidance for businesses, its "Selling and supplying goods" guide last reviewed in June 2026 and stated to cover England and Wales, though the Act it summarises extends to the whole United Kingdom — is blunter. "There is no legal requirement for the consumer to provide or produce a receipt." If the trader does not remember the sale they may ask for proof of purchase, and that "can be a credit card voucher or cheque stub or anything that indicates when and where the item was bought."

That last clause is the test. The standard is what the evidence shows, when and where, not what form it takes. Of the things the two sources name between them, the bank statement and the packaging are not receipts at all, and neither source requires an original document.

Whether a bank statement is accepted in practice as well as in guidance is not settled by any published ruling this piece could find, and part of the reason is where a dispute with a shop can go. The Financial Ombudsman Service describes its own remit as complaints about "financial businesses – companies that provide products and services like bank accounts, credit cards and loans, insurance policies, pensions, savings and investments"; a complaint that a jumper fell apart is not one of those. It does decide complaints about a retailer's defective goods, but with the card or credit provider as the respondent: it lists "goods I paid for are of poor quality or defective" among the problems it sees, explains chargeback and claims under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, and points out that "It's likely that your bank or lender hasn't supplied the goods or services." Schemes approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute do take consumers' disputes with retailers — RetailADR is listed as competent for Consumer Goods disputes "against traders established in United Kingdom", with "No fees have to be paid by the consumer" — but the shop has to have joined one: RetailADR can act only where the trader is a Participating Member, and "The Final Decision is only legally binding on the Participating Member if you accept it."

Four routes, then. The consumer advice service where you live, which is how a complaint reaches Trading Standards: in England and Wales the Citizens Advice consumer service, whose advisers can "pass information about complaints on to Trading Standards (you can't do this yourself)"; in Scotland consumeradvice.scot, run by the charity Advice Direct Scotland with Scottish Government funding; in Northern Ireland Consumerline, which answers complaints "on behalf of the Trading Standards Service in Northern Ireland" and may refer one on to it. An approved dispute resolution scheme, if the shop belongs to one. A chargeback or a section 75 claim through the card or credit provider. And a court claim: in England and Wales through the county court, which GOV.UK says "often used to be known as taking someone to a 'small claims court'"; in Scotland simple procedure in the sheriff court; in Northern Ireland the small claims process, decided informally by the county court.

Proof, not duration: what you have to be able to show

A claim under the Act asks you to establish two things: that these goods came from this trader, and that they do not conform to the contract. The first is the proof-of-purchase question above. The second is where the Act allocates a burden, and for a period it allocates it against the trader.

Section 19(14) provides that goods which do not conform at any time within six months of delivery "must be taken not to have conformed to it on that day" — the day of delivery. That operates for the purposes of section 19(3)(b) and (c) and section 19(4), not for every remedy in the Act, and section 19(15) disapplies it where it is established that the goods did conform on that day, or where applying it is incompatible with the nature of the goods or with how they have failed.

The evidential problem therefore has the opposite shape to the one described at the counter. You have to show when and where you bought the thing, by any means that shows it; for six months you do not have to show that the fault was already there. How long each right lasts is a separate question, answered elsewhere on this site.

Goodwill returns policies: where the receipt condition legitimately lives

A shop's returns policy is not a legal claim at all. It is the shop's own offer, and Business Companion's guide to writing a returns policy, updated in April 2025 for England, Scotland and Wales, states the relationship exactly: "Retailers' returns policies can add to, but not take away from, these rights."

The same guide tells retailers what they may attach to the extra. Where you offer more than the law requires, "you can impose conditions - for example: a requirement to produce the original till receipt", or that goods come back unused in unopened packaging, or a deadline, or an exchange or credit note rather than a refund. Then the sentence that settles the argument: "You cannot impose these conditions where the consumer has a legal right to return goods."

The till receipt is a condition of the gift, never a condition of the right. Asking for it is not automatically wrong. Asking for it on a faulty item is.

Whether that policy is a contract term or just a sign by the till makes no difference. Part 2 of the Consumer Rights Act applies to a notice as well as to a term, and defines notice to include "an announcement, whether or not in writing", wherever it relates to rights between trader and consumer or purports to exclude or restrict the trader's liability. An unfair term is not binding on the consumer; neither is an unfair consumer notice.

Business Companion lists statements that are "likely to mislead consumers about their rights", among them "no refunds given", "only credit notes will be given against faulty goods" and "sold as seen". One it puts flatly: "Even the statement 'No refunds except where goods are faulty' would be illegal", because a consumer can claim a refund on goods that are not faulty in a number of cases, misdescribed ones among them. Adding that statutory rights remain unaffected is not the cure it is taken for. Where two contradictory statements are used together, the guide says, they are still likely to mislead consumers about their rights, "therefore, such a notice is likely to be illegal".

What stands behind that is criminal law. Part 4, Chapter 1 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 came into force on 6 April 2025: section 237 makes it an offence for a trader to engage in an unfair commercial practice involving a misleading action, and Schedule 20, headed "Commercial practices which are in all circumstances considered unfair", bans at paragraph 11 "Presenting rights given to consumers by law as a distinctive feature of the trader's offer" — a paragraph section 237 does not exclude from criminal liability.

Bought online: a separate right, a separate timetable, and a different thing to prove

Buying without seeing the goods brings in a second regime, the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. Regulation 29(1) lets the consumer cancel a distance or off-premises contract "at any time in the cancellation period without giving any reason". Under regulation 30(3) that period ends 14 days after the day the goods come into the physical possession of the consumer or a person they nominated; where an order arrives in parts, regulations 30(4) and 30(5) run the clock from the last of them, though on a contract for regular delivery over a defined period regulation 30(6) runs it from the first. If the trader never gave the required cancellation information, regulation 31 extends the period by 12 months.

Two further clocks follow, and which one runs depends on who fetches the goods. Where the trader has offered to collect them, collecting them is the trader's responsibility under regulation 35(1). Otherwise regulation 35(4) gives the consumer 14 days from telling the trader to send them back, and regulation 35(5) puts the direct cost of return on the consumer unless the trader agreed to bear it or failed to say so. The refund clock splits the same way. If the contract is a sales contract "and the trader has not offered to collect the goods", regulation 34(5) gives the trader 14 days from the day it receives the goods back or, if earlier, "the day on which the consumer supplies evidence of having sent the goods back". Otherwise regulation 34(6) applies, and the 14 days run from the day the trader is informed of the decision to cancel.

The exclusions are real. Regulation 28(1) puts whole categories outside Part 3: goods made to the consumer's specification or clearly personalised, goods liable to deteriorate or expire rapidly, newspapers and magazines outside a subscription, and contracts concluded at a public auction, among others. Regulation 28(3) is different again: rights that cease through something the consumer does, such as unsealing goods not suitable for return for health or hygiene reasons, unsealing audio, video or software, or mixing goods inseparably with other items. Off-premises contracts under which the consumer pays not more than £42 are outside Part 3 too.

The proof point is not the one people expect. Cancelling takes either the model cancellation form or "any other clear statement setting out the decision to cancel the contract", and a communication sent before the period ends counts as cancelling in time. Regulation 32(6): "In case of dispute it is for the consumer to show that the contract was cancelled in the cancellation period in accordance with this regulation." Online, the trader already holds the proof that you bought the item. What you must prove is that you said so, and when — an argument for cancelling in writing, and for keeping the proof of posting, which starts the trader's refund clock where sending the goods back was your job. Where the trader offered to collect them, that clock started the day you told it you were cancelling.

Gifts, the person who did not pay, and one line to say at the counter

The contract is between the shop and whoever paid, so the statutory rights are theirs. The government's guidance to retailers is a single sentence: "You only have to accept returns from the person who bought the item."

That is the default rather than the whole answer. Business Companion points to the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999: where someone buys a gift for a friend and it proves faulty, either the recipient or the buyer can take action for breach of contract, "as long as it was made clear that the goods were to be given as a gift". The caveat carries the weight. Section 1 of that Act lets a third party enforce a term which purports to confer a benefit on them, but not where the contract on its proper construction shows the parties did not intend that, and only where the third party is "expressly identified in the contract by name, as a member of a class or as answering a particular description". An unannounced present will not clear that bar, and a trader may exclude third-party rights by a term.

The 1999 Act extends to England, Wales and Northern Ireland but not to Scotland, where the equivalent is the Contract (Third Party Rights) (Scotland) Act 2017, in force from 26 February 2018. It requires that the contracting parties intended the person to be legally entitled to enforce the undertaking, and that the person is identifiable from the contract by being named or described in it.

Everything else about gifts — the gift receipt, the exchange, the credit note — is the shop's own offer, with its own conditions attached, and the original till receipt is lawfully one of them.

The line worth having ready is not a threat and not a section number. It is the sentence that puts the conversation on the right side of the fork: this is faulty, so I am not asking under your returns policy, I am claiming under the Consumer Rights Act. Then hand over what you have: the card statement, the packaging, the order confirmation. The test is whether it shows when and where the item was bought.

Sources

Chapter 2 of Part 1 runs from section 3 ("Contracts covered by this Chapter") to section 32 ("Contracts applying law of a country other than the UK"). The full text of the chapter as served by this page contains zero occurrences of "receipt", zero of "proof of purchase" and zero of the word "proof" across all thirty of its sections; the chapter page was pulled in full and searched rather than skimmed. — Consumer Rights Act 2015 (c. 15), Part 1, Chapter 2 (Goods), legislation.gov.uk, 2015, text as revised; read 14 September 2026
Section 33, "Contracts covered by this Chapter", is the opening section of Part 1, Chapter 3, on contracts to supply digital content — which is why the goods chapter ends at section 32 and not at 33. — Consumer Rights Act 2015 (c. 15), s. 33, legislation.gov.uk, 2015, text as revised; read 14 September 2026
s.9(1): "Every contract to supply goods is to be treated as including a term that the quality of the goods is satisfactory." s.9(3) lists aspects of quality including "appearance and finish", "freedom from minor defects", "safety" and "durability". Extent is marked U.K. — Consumer Rights Act 2015 (c. 15), s. 9 (Goods to be of satisfactory quality), legislation.gov.uk, 2015, text as revised; read 14 September 2026
s.10(1) and (3): where before the contract is made the consumer makes known to the trader any particular purpose for which the consumer is contracting for the goods, the contract is treated as including a term that the goods are reasonably fit for that purpose. Extent is marked U.K. — Consumer Rights Act 2015 (c. 15), s. 10 (Goods to be fit for particular purpose), legislation.gov.uk, 2015, text as revised; read 14 September 2026
s.11(1): "Every contract to supply goods by description is to be treated as including a term that the goods will match the description." s.11(3): a supply is not prevented from being a supply by description just because the goods are exposed for supply and selected by the consumer. Extent is marked U.K. — Consumer Rights Act 2015 (c. 15), s. 11 (Goods to be as described), legislation.gov.uk, 2015, text as revised; read 14 September 2026
s.19(14): goods which do not conform at any time within six months of delivery "must be taken not to have conformed to it on that day", for the purposes of subsections (3)(b) and (c) and (4). s.19(15) disapplies that where it is established that the goods did conform on that day, or where its application is incompatible with the nature of the goods or with how they fail to conform. — Consumer Rights Act 2015 (c. 15), s. 19 (Consumer's rights to enforce terms about goods), legislation.gov.uk, 2015, text as revised; read 14 September 2026
s.31(2): a term is not binding on the consumer to the extent that it would "(b) make such a right or remedy or its enforcement subject to a restrictive or onerous condition" or "(d) exclude or restrict rules of evidence or procedure", the rights and remedies in question being those under the provisions listed in s.31(1), which include ss. 9, 10 and 11. — Consumer Rights Act 2015 (c. 15), s. 31 (Liability that cannot be excluded or restricted), legislation.gov.uk, 2015, text as revised; read 14 September 2026
s.61(4): Part 2 applies to a notice to the extent that it relates to rights or obligations as between a trader and a consumer, or purports to exclude or restrict a trader's liability to a consumer. s.61(8): "In this section 'notice' includes an announcement, whether or not in writing, and any other communication or purported communication." — Consumer Rights Act 2015 (c. 15), s. 61 (Contracts and notices covered by this Part), legislation.gov.uk, 2015, text as revised; read 14 September 2026
s.62(1): "An unfair term of a consumer contract is not binding on the consumer." s.62(2): "An unfair consumer notice is not binding on the consumer." — Consumer Rights Act 2015 (c. 15), s. 62 (Requirement for contract terms and notices to be fair), legislation.gov.uk, 2015, text as revised; read 14 September 2026
reg. 27(1) applies Part 3 to distance and off-premises contracts; reg. 27(3): "This Part does not apply to off-premises contracts under which the payment to be made by the consumer is not more than £42." — The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, SI 2013/3134, reg. 27 (Application of Part 3), legislation.gov.uk, 2013, text as revised; read 14 September 2026
reg. 28(1) excludes categories from Part 3, including goods "made to the consumer's specifications or ... clearly personalised", goods "liable to deteriorate or expire rapidly", "a newspaper, periodical or magazine with the exception of subscription contracts", and "contracts concluded at a public auction". reg. 28(3): rights cease where sealed goods not suitable for return for health protection or hygiene reasons become unsealed, where sealed audio or video recordings or computer software become unsealed, or where goods become mixed inseparably with other items after delivery. — The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, SI 2013/3134, reg. 28 (Limits of application: circumstances excluding cancellation), legislation.gov.uk, 2013, text as revised; read 14 September 2026
reg. 29(1): "The consumer may cancel a distance or off-premises contract at any time in the cancellation period without giving any reason", subject to the listed liabilities. — The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, SI 2013/3134, reg. 29 (Right to cancel), legislation.gov.uk, 2013, text as revised; read 14 September 2026
reg. 30(3): for a sales contract the period ends 14 days after the day the goods come into the physical possession of the consumer, or of a person other than the carrier identified by the consumer to take possession. reg. 30(4) and 30(5) run the period from "the last of the goods" in a split order and "the last of the lots or pieces"; reg. 30(6), for a contract for regular delivery of goods during a defined period of more than one day, runs it from "the first of the goods". — The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, SI 2013/3134, reg. 30 (Normal cancellation period), legislation.gov.uk, 2013, text as revised; read 14 September 2026
reg. 31(3): where the trader did not provide the information on the right to cancel required by paragraph (l) of Schedule 2, the cancellation period ends 12 months after the day it would otherwise have ended under reg. 30. — The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, SI 2013/3134, reg. 31 (Cancellation period extended for breach of information requirement), legislation.gov.uk, 2013, text as revised; read 14 September 2026
reg. 32(3): the consumer may use the model cancellation form in part B of Schedule 3 or "make any other clear statement setting out the decision to cancel the contract". reg. 32(5): a communication sent before the end of the cancellation period counts as cancelling within it. reg. 32(6): "In case of dispute it is for the consumer to show that the contract was cancelled in the cancellation period in accordance with this regulation." — The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, SI 2013/3134, reg. 32 (Exercise of the right to withdraw or cancel), legislation.gov.uk, 2013, text as revised; read 14 September 2026
reg. 34(5): "If the contract is a sales contract and the trader has not offered to collect the goods, the time is the end of 14 days after— (a) the day on which the trader receives the goods back, or (b) if earlier, the day on which the consumer supplies evidence of having sent the goods back." reg. 34(6): "Otherwise, the time is the end of 14 days after the day on which the trader is informed of the consumer's decision to withdraw the offer or cancel the contract". This is the condition the earlier version of this piece omitted. — The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, SI 2013/3134, reg. 34 (Reimbursement by trader in the event of withdrawal or cancellation), legislation.gov.uk, 2013, text as revised; read 14 September 2026
reg. 35(1): it is the trader's responsibility to collect the goods if the trader has offered to collect them (or, for an off-premises contract, where the goods were delivered to the consumer's home at the time the contract was entered into and could not normally be returned by post). reg. 35(4): otherwise the consumer must send the goods off or hand them over not later than 14 days after informing the trader. reg. 35(5): the consumer bears the direct cost of returning the goods unless the trader agreed to bear those costs or failed to give the information required by paragraph (m) of Schedule 2. — The Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013, SI 2013/3134, reg. 35 (Return of goods in the event of cancellation), legislation.gov.uk, 2013, text as revised; read 14 September 2026
s.1(1)(b) lets a third party enforce a term that purports to confer a benefit on them; s.1(2) disapplies that where on a proper construction of the contract the parties did not intend the term to be enforceable by the third party; s.1(3) requires the third party to be "expressly identified in the contract by name, as a member of a class or as answering a particular description". The extent shown against s.1 is E+W+N.I., so the Act does not reach Scotland. — Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 (c. 31), s. 1 (Right of third party to enforce contractual term), legislation.gov.uk, 1999, text as revised; read 14 September 2026
s.1(1) requires both an undertaking for the person's benefit and that "it was the intention of the contracting parties that the person should be legally entitled to enforce or otherwise invoke the undertaking"; s.1(3): the person "must be identifiable from the contract by being either named or described in it". Extent S. The commencement note records s.1 in force at 26 February 2018 by S.S.I. 2018/8, reg. 2. — Contract (Third Party Rights) (Scotland) Act 2017 (asp 5), s. 1 (Creation of a third-party right), legislation.gov.uk, 2017, in force 26 February 2018; read 14 September 2026
s.75(1): where the debtor under a debtor-creditor-supplier agreement has a claim against the supplier for misrepresentation or breach of contract, they have a like claim against the creditor, who is jointly and severally liable. s.75(3)(b) excludes claims relating to a single item with a cash price not exceeding £100 or more than £30,000. Extent U.K. This is the "section 75" named in the piece. — Consumer Credit Act 1974 (c. 39), s. 75 (Liability of creditor for breaches by supplier), legislation.gov.uk, 1974, text as revised; read 14 September 2026
s.237(1): "A trader commits an offence if, in breach of section 225(1), the trader engages in an unfair commercial practice which involves a misleading action within section 226(1)(a), (b) or (c)". s.237(7) makes a practice of a description listed in Schedule 20 an offence "other than an excluded description", and s.237(8) names the excluded descriptions as those in paragraphs 12, 13 and 30 of that Schedule — paragraph 11 is not among them. The commencement note records s.237 in force at 6 April 2025 by S.I. 2025/272. — Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (c. 13), Part 4, Chapter 1, s. 237 (Offences), legislation.gov.uk, 2024, in force 6 April 2025; read 14 September 2026
The Schedule is headed "Commercial practices which are in all circumstances considered unfair". Paragraph 11: "Presenting rights given to consumers by law as a distinctive feature of the trader's offer." The commencement note records paragraph 11 in force at 6 April 2025 by S.I. 2025/272. — Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (c. 13), Schedule 20, paragraph 11, legislation.gov.uk, 2024, in force 6 April 2025; read 14 September 2026
"You don't have an automatic right to get your money back if you just change your mind about something you've bought and there's nothing wrong with it." And: "It's the same no matter how expensive the item was - it's really down to the seller whether they offer you anything." The page also sets out the 14-day cooling-off period for things bought without being seen in person. — Citizens Advice, "Changing your mind about something you've bought" (England edition), read 14 September 2026
The Scottish edition carries both quoted sentences in identical words, so the change-of-mind position stated in the piece is not a point on which Scotland differs. — Citizens Advice, "Changing your mind about something you've bought" (Scotland edition), read 14 September 2026
The live faulty-goods page. Its static text carries a "Start the online tool" link in place of any list of acceptable evidence, and contains zero occurrences of "receipt" and zero of "proof of purchase"; the page states "This advice applies to England." The older URL ending "if-something-youve-bought-is-faulty" returns HTTP 404 and is not used here. — Citizens Advice, "Return faulty goods", read 14 September 2026
Under "Proof of purchase": "You can ask the customer for proof that they bought an item from you. This could be a sales receipt or other evidence such as a bank statement or packaging." Under "Items bought in person": a trader need not refund a customer who no longer wants an item "unless they bought it without seeing it". Under "Items returned by someone other than the buyer": "You only have to accept returns from the person who bought the item." The GOV.UK content API gives first published 1 November 2012 and last updated 18 August 2015, and lists three owning organisations — the Competition and Markets Authority, the Department for Business and Trade and the former Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy — which is why it is credited here to the CMA with DBT rather than to one department. — Competition and Markets Authority and Department for Business and Trade, "Accepting returns and giving refunds: the law", GOV.UK, first published 1 November 2012, last updated 18 August 2015; read 14 September 2026
"There is no legal requirement for the consumer to provide or produce a receipt. If the trader does not remember the consumer buying the item they can ask the consumer to provide proof of purchase. This can be a credit card voucher or cheque stub or anything that indicates when and where the item was bought." Under "Rights of third parties": under the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999, if someone buys a gift for a friend and it proves faulty, "either the recipient or the buyer of the gift can take action for breach of contract (as long as it was made clear that the goods were to be given as a gift)", and "Traders can use contract terms to exclude the rights of third parties". The page carries "This guidance is for England and Wales" and "Last reviewed / updated: June 2026"; the Act it summarises extends to the whole United Kingdom. — Chartered Trading Standards Institute, Business Companion, "Selling and supplying goods", last reviewed June 2026; read 14 September 2026
"Consumers have rights where goods are faulty or not as described. Retailers' returns policies can add to, but not take away from, these rights." Where a trader offers more than the law requires, "you can impose conditions - for example: a requirement to produce the original till receipt / a requirement to return the goods unused and in unopened packaging / a deadline for returns / an offer to exchange or offer a credit note, but not to refund", followed by "You cannot impose these conditions where the consumer has a legal right to return goods." On notices the page says "The following are examples of statements that are likely to mislead consumers about their rights" — "no refunds given", "only credit notes will be given against faulty goods", "sold as seen" — and separately that "Even the statement 'No refunds except where goods are faulty' would be illegal"; on disclaimers, "where two contradictory statements are used together, they are still likely to mislead consumers about their rights; therefore, such a notice is likely to be illegal." It also records that under Part 4, Chapter 1 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 it is a criminal offence to mislead a consumer about their legal rights. The page carries "This guidance is for England, Scotland and Wales" and "Last reviewed / updated: April 2025". — Chartered Trading Standards Institute, Business Companion, "Writing a returns policy", last updated April 2025; read 14 September 2026
The 134-page guidance PDF. Downloaded and searched in full: "proof of purchase" appears zero times. "Receipt" appears three times — once in the sense of delivery ("the ability to inspect the product on receipt") and twice inside a worked example of a warranty term requiring goods to be returned "with a copy of your receipt", which the guidance treats as more likely to be fair where the warranty is expressed as additional to the buyer's legal remedies. The GOV.UK publication page (gov.uk/government/publications/unfair-contract-terms-cma37) gives first published 31 July 2015, updated 22 July 2026, and 134 pages. — Competition and Markets Authority, "Unfair contract terms guidance" (CMA37), GOV.UK, first published 31 July 2015, updated 22 July 2026; downloaded and searched 14 September 2026
The 64-page guidance PDF. Downloaded and searched in full: zero occurrences of "proof of purchase" and zero of "receipt". The GOV.UK publication page (gov.uk/government/publications/unfair-commercial-practices-cma207) gives first published 4 April 2025, updated 18 November 2025, and 64 pages. — Competition and Markets Authority, "Unfair commercial practices" (CMA207), GOV.UK, first published 4 April 2025, updated 18 November 2025; downloaded and searched 14 September 2026
Under the heading "Our role is to investigate complaints": "We investigate complaints about financial businesses – companies that provide products and services like bank accounts, credit cards and loans, insurance policies, pensions, savings and investments." This is the service's own description of its remit; the piece draws no conclusion from it about ombudsman schemes in general. — Financial Ombudsman Service, home page (statement of remit), read 14 September 2026
The page lists "goods I paid for are of poor quality or defective" among the problems it sees, explains chargeback and Section 75 claims, and says: "It's likely that your bank or lender hasn't supplied the goods or services. But as detailed above, if you paid using a credit or debit card, a loan, or certain catalogue shopping accounts, they might be able to help by raising a chargeback or considering a Section 75 claim." The page returned HTTP 200 to a plain command-line fetch on the read date; an earlier note in this piece claiming it blocks automated fetchers was wrong and has been removed. — Financial Ombudsman Service, "Problems with goods and services bought using a debit card or credit (Section 75 and chargeback)", read 14 September 2026
The register entry for Retail ADR (a trading name of Consumer Dispute Resolution Limited): "The entity is competent for disputes in the following sectors", the first listed being "Consumer Goods"; "The entity is competent for disputes against traders established in United Kingdom"; under Fees, "No fees have to be paid by the consumer"; under Outcome of the procedure, "The procedure is binding on consumers and traders", with "The Final Determination will have no legal effect in law if you choose to not accept it." — Chartered Trading Standards Institute, "ADR Approved Bodies: Retail ADR", read 14 September 2026
"We're approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute to provide Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) services for disputes between consumers and traders in the Retail sector, operating across the UK." "We can only deal with a complaint if it is currently unresolved, concerns a trader that is a Participating Member of RetailADR, and relates to an issue covered by our Scheme Rules." "The Final Decision is only legally binding on the Participating Member if you accept it." — RetailADR (Consumer Dispute Resolution Ltd), home page, read 14 September 2026
"Contact the Citizens Advice consumer service if you need more help with a consumer problem." Its advisers can "pass information about complaints on to Trading Standards (you can't do this yourself)" but "can't make a complaint for you or take legal action on your behalf". The page states "This advice applies to England." The Scottish edition of the same page states that the advice does not apply to Scotland, which is why the piece gives the referral route jurisdiction by jurisdiction. — Citizens Advice, "Contact the consumer service" (England edition), read 14 September 2026
The Welsh edition of the same page carries the same service and the same Trading Standards referral wording and states "This advice applies to Wales." — so the Citizens Advice consumer service is the route in England and Wales. — Citizens Advice, "Contact the consumer service" (Wales edition), read 14 September 2026
Scottish Government announcement of the launch: "A new online and telephone consumer advice service has been launched as a result of £600,000 Scottish Government funding. Consumeradvice.scot provides advice to people on a range of issues, including buying products online and in shops ... The service is being run by the Advice Direct Scotland charity." — Scottish Government, "New consumer advice service launched", gov.scot, published 15 May 2019; read 14 September 2026
The service itself: free information by live chat, phone (0808 164 6000) and email, with the footer stating "consumeradvice.scot and advice.scot are online trading identities of Advice Direct Scotland Ltd", a charity registered in Scotland (SC034473). — Advice Direct Scotland, consumeradvice.scot, read 14 September 2026
"Consumerline is the consumer advice helpline for the Trading Standards Service. Consumerline answers consumer complaints and business enquiries on behalf of the Trading Standards Service in Northern Ireland." And: "If the matter appears to potentially break criminal legislation enforced by the Trading Standards Service, Consumerline may refer details of your complaint to Trading Standards Service." — nidirect, "About Consumerline and how to contact the helpline", read 14 September 2026
"You can apply to a county court to claim money you're owed by a person or business. This is known as making a court claim. It often used to be known as taking someone to a 'small claims court'." The same page states: "There's a different process to make a court claim in Scotland and to make a court claim in Northern Ireland" — which is the basis for treating this route as England and Wales only. — HM Courts & Tribunals Service, "Make a court claim for money", GOV.UK, last updated 5 November 2024; read 14 September 2026
"Simple Procedure is a court process designed to provide a speedy, inexpensive and informal way to resolve disputes. A claim is made in the sheriff court by a claimant." "Where the value of the claim is over £5,000 the ordinary cause procedure should be followed." — Scottish Courts and Tribunals Service, "Guide to Simple Procedure", read 14 September 2026
"The small claims process allows certain types of claims to be decided informally by the County Court, usually without the need of a solicitor or barrister." "In general a small claim is one where the value to be claimed is not more than £5,000", subject to the listed exclusions. — nidirect, "Small claims process" (Northern Ireland), read 14 September 2026

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