Amendment 20, which stands in my name and that of my noble friend Lord Stevenson, aims to provide greater clarity on how long a repair should take and, therefore, how long a consumer must wait before they may be entitled to a refund or a price reduction. At Second Reading, the whole House was very supportive of the aim of the Bill to increase clarity. Under current law, and under the Bill, where a consumer asks for a faulty good to be repaired, the trader has to do so within a “reasonable time”. However, “reasonable” is not specified, which causes uncertainty for the consumer but probably for businesses as well.
We are very keen that the Government’s new remedies should work but they will do so only if customers feel confident about their rights, particularly about when they can exercise those rights. As we have just been discussing, elsewhere in the Bill there is a significant change that we welcome, where the 30 days replaces the reasonable period to reject. The Minister has just emphasised the clarity of that. Our concern is that in this area the word “reasonable” remains as regards how long it takes to complete a repair. Clearly, the range of goods covered goes from yo-yos to the double glazing referred to by the noble Lord, Lord Hodgson. It would apply to an enormous range of goods and therefore it is difficult to have a precise time for all repairs.
Amendment 20 therefore proposes a longstop, coupled with an obligation for traders to effect the repair sooner if possible. For most repairs, 14 days would be absolutely adequate, even if spare parts had to be sourced from overseas. But the amendment also would provide flexibility where the consumer could agree to a longer period where they are happy to do so. This may be in cases such as those raised by the Glass and Glazing Federation where on-site visits will have to take place before any repair could be ordered, let alone fitted. That flexibility obviously would be possible. For other goods, there is no reason why they should not be repaired in less than 14 days. In a Which? survey, more than half of the respondents said that traders should not have more than 14 days to effect a repair. After all, that would leave a customer without the goods for quite a long time.
The clarity that this amendment seeks is to empower consumers to exercise their rights. In other words, they will know that they can ask for a repair to be done in that time. We think that it will reduce unnecessary disputes as to what is reasonable because both sides will know what to expect. It will also deter poor practice. The problem that the consumer has is that, while they are awaiting a repair, they are caught: they do not have the good; they do not have the money, so they cannot replace it at another shop; and they cannot have it repaired by another trader because they would have to pay for it. At that time, they would be very vulnerable. We hope that this amendment will facilitate the clarity that the Government seek in this Bill. I beg to move.