Statutory Rights vs Manufacturer Warranties: What's the Difference?

At a glance

• Your contract is with the retailer, not the manufacturer. The Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives you rights against whoever sold you the goods, even if a manufacturer also runs its own warranty scheme.
• Short-term right to reject: 30 days from delivery to reject faulty goods outright for a full refund, under section 22 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
• After 30 days: the trader must repair or replace faulty goods within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience, under section 23.
• If repair or replacement fails or isn't possible: you get the right to a price reduction or the final right to reject, under section 24.
• Six-month reversed burden of proof: under section 19(14), a fault appearing within six months of delivery is presumed to have been there at the point of sale, unless the retailer proves otherwise.
• Six-year longstop: claims founded on the original contract can generally be brought within six years of purchase in England and Wales, under section 5 of the Limitation Act 1980 — though few products are expected to last that long.
• A manufacturer's warranty is voluntary and additional. It sits on top of your statutory rights; it can never be used to reduce or replace them.
• Paying by credit card for something over £100 may give you an additional route against your card provider under section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974.

What are statutory rights?

Statutory rights are the legal protections Parliament has built into consumer law, primarily through the Consumer Rights Act 2015. They apply automatically to goods, services and digital content bought from a trader in England and Wales, and — because they are implied terms of the contract by law — they cannot be excluded, restricted or signed away in the small print.

The core requirement, set out in section 9 of the Act, is that goods must be of satisfactory quality: they must meet the standard a reasonable person would consider satisfactory, taking into account the price, the description given, and all other relevant circumstances, including the goods' fitness for their usual purpose, appearance and finish, freedom from minor defects, safety and durability. Sections 10 and 11 add further requirements that goods must be fit for any particular purpose you made known to the seller, and must match the description given at the point of sale.

These are not guidance or best practice — they are legal requirements. A trader who supplies goods that fail to meet them is in breach of contract, and section 19 of the Act sets out exactly what a consumer can do about it.

What is a manufacturer's warranty?

A manufacturer's warranty (sometimes called a guarantee) is a voluntary commercial promise made by the company that made the product, separate from your legal rights entirely. It typically promises to repair, replace or refund the item within a defined period — commonly one, three or five years — if certain faults appear, subject to conditions the manufacturer sets itself, such as registering the product or using an authorised repairer.

Because a warranty is a matter of contract between you and the manufacturer (or sometimes the retailer, acting on the manufacturer's behalf), its terms can be more generous than the law requires in some respects — a longer time limit, for example — but they can never validly reduce the protection the Consumer Rights Act 2015 already gives you against the retailer. Warranty terms that appear to limit your statutory rights are unenforceable to that extent.

Why the distinction matters: who is actually liable

This is the single most important thing to understand before making a complaint: your contract, and therefore your primary legal claim, is with the retailer — not the manufacturer. If a washing machine breaks down, the shop that sold it to you carries the legal duty to put things right under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, regardless of whether the manufacturer also operates its own warranty scheme.

Retailers sometimes try to redirect a faulty-goods complaint to the manufacturer because it is administratively easier for them. This does not change their legal liability. You are entitled to insist that the retailer deals with a Consumer Rights Act claim directly, and to choose the manufacturer's warranty route instead only if you decide it suits you better.

The three-tier remedy ladder under the Consumer Rights Act 2015

Sections 20 to 24 of the Act set out a structured sequence of remedies. Which one is available to you depends on how long you have owned the goods and what has already happened.

| Tier | Remedy | Time limit | Legal basis | |---|---|---|---| | 1 | Short-term right to reject — full refund | 30 days from delivery (extended if you agree to a repair attempt within that period) | Consumer Rights Act 2015, ss.20 & 22 | | 2 | Right to repair or replacement | Available once the 30-day period has passed, or if you choose it instead of rejecting within 30 days | Consumer Rights Act 2015, s.23 | | 3 | Price reduction or the final right to reject | After one failed repair or replacement, or where repair/replacement is impossible, disproportionate, or not completed within a reasonable time | Consumer Rights Act 2015, s.24 |

Tier 1: the 30-day short-term right to reject

Section 22 gives you 30 days from the day the goods are delivered (or, for goods the trader must install, from when installation is confirmed) to reject them outright and get a full refund, if they do not conform to the contract — for example, if they are faulty, not fit for purpose or not as described. You do not need to give the retailer a chance to repair or replace first if you exercise this right within the window.

If you agree to let the trader attempt a repair or replacement during the 30 days, the clock stops running for the length of that "waiting period." If the repaired or replacement goods still don't conform, you get either 7 days after the repair attempt ends, or your original remaining time — whichever is later — to still reject under the short-term right (s.22(6)–(8)). Perishable goods that couldn't reasonably be expected to last 30 days get a shorter window matched to their expected life.

Tier 2: repair or replacement

Once the 30-day window has passed — or if you choose this route instead of an immediate rejection — section 23 gives you the right to require the trader to repair or replace the goods. The trader must do this within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to you, and must bear all necessary costs, including labour, materials and postage (s.23(2)).

The trader can refuse a specific remedy (repair or replacement) only if it is impossible, or disproportionately expensive compared with the alternative remedy (s.23(3)–(4)). You cannot demand a replacement — or jump to rejecting the goods — without giving the trader a reasonable opportunity to repair first, unless doing so would cause you significant inconvenience (s.23(6)).

Tier 3: price reduction or the final right to reject

If a repair or replacement doesn't fix the problem, isn't completed within a reasonable time, or can't be attempted at all, section 24 gives you the final right to reject the goods for a refund, or a price reduction instead. You can only choose one of these, not both, and only after: one failed repair or replacement attempt; the trader is unable to offer either remedy; or the trader breaches its duty to repair/replace within a reasonable time without inconvenience (s.24(5)).

If you exercise the final right to reject, the retailer can deduct an amount for the use you've had of the goods — but not if you're within the first six months of ownership, and not for any period the delay was the trader's fault (s.24(8)–(11)). A deduction for use in the first six months is only permitted for motor vehicles, or goods specified in a future statutory instrument.

The six-month reversed burden of proof

One of the most practically important — and most misunderstood — provisions in the Act is section 19(14). If goods fail to conform to the contract at any point within six months of delivery, the law treats them as having been faulty at the time of delivery, unless the retailer can prove otherwise, or unless that presumption is incompatible with the nature of the goods or the fault (for example, obvious wear-and-tear damage).

This flips the normal burden of proof in the consumer's favour for the first six months. After six months, the position reverses: it becomes the consumer's job to show the fault was present at the point of sale, which can require an independent report or expert opinion, particularly for higher-value items. This is why raising a fault promptly, and keeping dated evidence of when it first appeared, matters more the longer you have owned the item.

How manufacturer warranties actually work

Warranty terms are a matter of contract with the manufacturer, so read them alongside — not instead of — your statutory position:

• Conditions apply to the warranty claim only. Requirements such as registering the product, using an authorised repairer, or retaining original packaging can validly restrict a warranty claim, but they have no bearing on what you can ask the retailer to do under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
• Warranty length is a commercial choice, not a legal minimum. A three- or five-year electronics warranty can be genuinely useful once your six-year Limitation Act longstop and the practical difficulty of an ageing statutory claim are taken into account — but it doesn't replace the retailer's day-one obligations.
• A warranty can lapse or become worthless if the manufacturer stops trading, is acquired, or discontinues the scheme. Your statutory rights against a still-trading retailer are unaffected by anything that happens to the manufacturer.
• You can pursue both routes, but not for the same loss twice — if the manufacturer's warranty fully resolves the problem, that closes the statutory claim in practice, even though the legal right to have pursued it never disappeared.

Worked examples

Example 1 — the 40-day laptop fault. Aisha buys a laptop from a retailer. On day 40, the screen develops a fault. The 30-day short-term right to reject has passed, so she cannot demand an instant refund under section 22. She can, however, require the retailer to repair or replace it under section 23 — and because the fault appeared well within six months, section 19(14) means the retailer must prove the fault wasn't present at delivery if it wants to dispute the claim, not the other way round.

Example 2 — retailer points to the manufacturer. Tom's washing machine breaks after four months. The retailer tells him to "contact the manufacturer, it's under warranty." Tom is entitled to say no: his contract is with the retailer, section 19 gives him rights directly against them, and the manufacturer's warranty is an optional extra he can choose to use instead — not a reason for the retailer to refuse to help. If the retailer keeps refusing, this is worth escalating in writing, citing the Consumer Rights Act 2015 by name.

Example 3 — repair fails twice. Priya's sofa is repaired once under section 23 but the fault returns within weeks. Because there has now been "one repair" that did not fix the problem, she moves into section 24: she can choose a price reduction or the final right to reject for a refund, and — because this is within the first six months of ownership — no deduction can be made for the use she's had of the sofa.

Second-hand goods and private sales

Statutory rights under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 apply to second-hand goods bought from a trader (a shop, dealer, or business selling in the course of business) in the same way as new goods, but the standard adjusts. Section 9 makes clear that "satisfactory quality" is judged against all the relevant circumstances, including the age, price and condition of the item — a five-year-old second-hand car is not expected to perform like a new one, but it must still be fit to drive and free from serious undisclosed defects.

Private sales — a genuinely private, one-off sale between individuals, with no trader involved — fall almost entirely outside the Act. The main protection that survives is that goods must match their description; there is no statutory satisfactory-quality or fitness-for-purpose right against a private seller. This is one of the biggest practical differences buyers underestimate when comparing a dealer purchase against a private one.

Paying by card: section 75 and chargeback

If you paid by credit card for goods or services costing more than £100 and up to £30,000, section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 makes your card provider jointly and severally liable alongside the retailer for a breach of contract or misrepresentation — including where the retailer has since gone out of business. This is a separate legal right from anything in the Consumer Rights Act 2015, and it exists in addition to it, not instead of it.

Chargeback is a different, non-statutory scheme run under card network rules (Visa, Mastercard and similar), available for both debit and credit card payments and not limited to the £100–£30,000 band. It is not a legal right in the same way section 75 is, but most UK banks operate it, and it can be useful where section 75 doesn't apply — for lower-value purchases, or debit card payments.

What to do if a retailer tries to redirect you to the manufacturer

1. State plainly that your contract is with them. Reference the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and section 19 specifically if needed — this alone often resolves the confusion.
2. Identify which tier you're in. Are you within 30 days (short-term right to reject), within six months (reversed burden of proof), or beyond that (you carry the burden of showing the fault was present at sale)?
3. Put the complaint in writing, even if you've already spoken to someone in person or on the phone. Keep a dated record.
4. Gather evidence: your receipt or order confirmation, photographs of the fault, and notes of any conversations, including names and dates.
5. If the retailer still refuses, escalate through their formal complaints process, then consider an alternative dispute resolution scheme relevant to that trade sector, a chargeback or section 75 claim if you paid by card, and — as a last resort — the small claims track of the county court, which is designed for consumers to use without a solicitor for claims up to £10,000.
6. Use the manufacturer's warranty if it's genuinely quicker or more generous — but keep your statutory rights against the retailer in reserve if the warranty process stalls or fails.

About this guide

This guide explains the general legal position on statutory rights and manufacturer warranties for goods bought in England and Wales. It is legal information, not legal advice, and does not take account of your specific circumstances or the exact terms of your purchase — reading it does not create a solicitor–client relationship. LegalDocuments.co.uk is not a law firm and is not regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. For advice tailored to your situation, speak to our telephone legal advice service or consult a regulated solicitor.

The law described was accurate as at August 2026 and is subject to change — always check GOV.UK and legislation.gov.uk for the most current position.

Last reviewed: August 2026 by Brad Askew, Solicitor (non-practising) · Next review due: August 2027 or on legislative change.