Court of Appeal rules on refunds for goods bought online
Clarifies when a retailer must offer a full refund versus a repair or replacement, and sets the clock for what counts as a reasonable inspection period.
New Acts of Parliament, amendments, court rulings, and statutory instruments — covering employment rights, consumer rights, tenancy law, data protection, and debt recovery — each reduced to three lines: what changed, who it affects, and what to do. All items link to the official source on legislation.gov.uk or BAILII.
The Bill rewrites deposit-return rules across England. Landlords will have 10 days from the end of a tenancy to repay, with automatic penalty interest if they miss it.
Read the full itemClarifies when a retailer must offer a full refund versus a repair or replacement, and sets the clock for what counts as a reasonable inspection period.
The Employment Relations (Flexible Working) Act 2023 gave employees the right to request flexible working from day one. Regulations now specify the employer's response window.
The Bank of England held its base rate at 5.5% on 18 September 2026. The statutory rate for late commercial payments under the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 therefore remains at 13.5% per year (8% above base).
HM Courts & Tribunals Service has updated the fee bands for money claims. The small claims track limit is also under review for a proposed increase.
The Leasehold Advisory Service has published revised guidance on how service charges must be itemised and what counts as a reasonable management fee.
Employment Appeal Tribunal sets out when a probationary-period dismissal must follow the full statutory minimum notice procedure and when a shorter contractual period applies.
A draft bill would allow penalty charge notices to be served by email or app notification, removing the requirement to affix a physical notice to a vehicle.
Regulations under the Renters' Rights Bill extend the minimum notice period a landlord must give before ending a periodic tenancy from two months to four months.
The Low Pay Commission recommended a 6.7% increase for workers aged 21 and over. Apprentice and under-18 rates also rise.
A County Court ruling clarifies that streaming and software subscriptions are "digital content" under the Act, giving consumers the right to refunds for faulty service.
HMCTS has revised Form E — the standard financial disclosure document used in divorce and dissolution proceedings — with expanded sections for pension assets and cryptocurrency holdings.
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 provisions on subscription contracts come into force, requiring traders to provide a simple one-step cancellation mechanism.
Regulations reduce the maximum Right to Buy discount for social housing tenants in England. The change is part of a broader review of the scheme announced in the Housing Strategy.
Ministers have confirmed that the service-charge transparency provisions will come into force on 1 January 2027. Leaseholders and freeholders should prepare now.
The Information Commissioner's Office has handed down its largest fine under UK GDPR to a retail company that stored payment card data in plaintext for over three years.
Draft regulations under the Equality Act 2010 extend mandatory gender pay gap reporting to employers with 100 or more employees, down from 250. About 10,000 more employers will be captured.
The tariff for road traffic whiplash claims under the Civil Liability Act 2018 has been uprated in line with inflation. Claims handled on the Official Injury Claim portal are affected.
The Judiciary of England and Wales has issued updated guidance on when a clean break financial order is appropriate and what the court must consider before making one final.
A Court of Appeal judgment sets out the limits on creditors pursuing debts older than six years — and what amounts to a fresh acknowledgment that restarts the limitation clock.
The government has confirmed that the enhanced Stamp Duty Land Tax relief for first-time buyers — zero rate on the first £425,000 — will remain in place until 31 March 2028.
The Home Office has confirmed that the list of identity service providers eligible to carry out digital right to work checks will expand from January 2027, reducing the burden on employers.
The Ministry of Justice has confirmed that child arrangements orders will be replaced by "parenting orders" under the Children (Terminology) Bill, using language focused on the child rather than parental rights.
A public consultation proposes night-time curfews and passenger limits for newly qualified drivers in their first year. The scheme would apply in England, Scotland and Wales.
The Employment Rights Act 2025 commencement regulations confirm which provisions came into force in April 2026 — including day-one unfair dismissal rights, fire and rehire restrictions, and the zero-hours guaranteed-hours right.
The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 extends FCA oversight to BNPL lenders. Providers must carry out affordability checks and borrowers gain the right to complain to the Financial Ombudsman.
Regulations extending the Payment Practices and Performance Reporting scheme require more large companies to publish half-yearly data on how quickly they pay their suppliers.
The Information Commissioner's Office sets out how UK GDPR applies to training, deploying, and using large language models that process personal data.
The reformed Money Claim Online service gains automatic statutory interest calculation, a document upload facility, and an expanded settlement negotiation tool for claims up to £25,000.
An updated edition of the Highway Code reinforces the hierarchy of road users, giving cyclists explicit priority at side-road junctions and expanding rules on safe passing distances.
The BSB is seeking views on whether barristers should be allowed to use AI-generated submissions and draft arguments in court proceedings, and what disclosure obligations should apply.
A significant Upper Tribunal decision holds that s.19 Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 overrides broad lease provisions — leaseholders can always challenge whether service charges are reasonable.
The MoJ proposes allowing Employment Tribunals to award costs more readily against parties who pursue weak claims or defences, while retaining the no-costs default for most cases.
The Legal Aid Agency has launched a consultation proposing to raise the income and capital limits that determine eligibility for civil legal aid for the first time since 2010.
Social landlords and housing associations must update their internal complaints processes to meet revised standards by 1 April 2027, or face formal determinations.
The Competition and Markets Authority has opened formal enforcement proceedings against three online subscription providers whose cancellation flows it says breach the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.
The maximum debt level for a Debt Relief Order increases from £30,000 to £50,000 in November 2026, bringing more people struggling with unmanageable debt within reach of this low-cost insolvency option.
A draft bill published for pre-legislative scrutiny would require courts to make more active findings before granting special guardianship orders, responding to longstanding concerns about inadequate assessments.
Provisions in the Levelling-Up and Regeneration Act 2023 extending time limits for issuing planning enforcement notices are now in force, giving councils more time to act against unauthorised development.
A significant judgment holds that National Highways owed a duty of care to motorists where the stopped vehicle detection system was not functioning and no warning signs were displayed.
The Ministry of Justice is proposing changes to the default judgment process so that creditors must provide more evidence of a valid debt before a CCJ is automatically entered.
The Government confirmed the commencement date for the abolition of Section 21 — the most significant change to residential tenancy law in a generation, affecting around 11 million private renters in England.
The revised ACAS Code includes for the first time specific guidance on conducting disciplinary and grievance hearings via video call and on managing remote workers through performance processes.
The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 gives the CMA power to designate tech platforms as "strategic market status" firms — and enforce binding obligations.
The government has extended the £500 family mediation voucher scheme to cover all MIAM-eligible private law children disputes, not just those involving a dispute about child arrangements.
MHCLG is consulting on lowering the threshold for mandatory HMO licensing from five to three occupants, bringing an estimated 400,000 more rented properties within the scheme.
A Law Commission report recommends lowering the blood alcohol limit from 80mg to 50mg per 100ml, bringing England and Wales in line with Scotland and most of Europe.
Updated Employment Tribunal Procedure Rules clarify when judges must hold in-person hearings and how video evidence from overseas witnesses is handled.
The Product Safety and Metrology Bill proposes extending liability for unsafe products to online marketplace operators and creating a new regulatory category for AI-enabled consumer goods.
The government has commenced the collective enfranchisement and lease extension provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, making it cheaper and simpler to buy your freehold or extend a lease.
The Supreme Court holds that offering enhanced occupational maternity pay but only statutory shared parental pay amounts to indirect sex discrimination against men under the Equality Act 2010.
Following the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023, BNPL lenders must be FCA-authorised and comply with consumer credit rules including creditworthiness assessments and Section 75 rights.
A consultation proposes new minimum bonding levels for licensed insolvency practitioners and mandatory fee disclosure in a standardised form at the time of appointment.
The Department for Transport is consulting on raising FPN amounts for speeding, mobile phone use, and seatbelt offences for the first time since 2009, with a proposed new sliding scale based on severity.
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