When is a legally valid contract created?
As long as all the key elements are present, a contract is created when a customer accepts your offer to provide goods or services. It’s usually obvious when a contract is created, but sometimes it may not be completely clear. So it’s very important to make sure you never create a contract when you don’t intend to, perhaps by making an offer you can’t follow through. If you agree contracts in a doorstep selling situation they may be invalid if you don’t include the necessary cancellation information. There are also general fair terms regulations that can invalidate unfair standard consumer contracts. See our guides on customer protection and returns and refunds, warranties and complaints. You can download guidance on unfair contract terms from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) website (PDF, 281K) – Opens in a new window.
