The 14-Day Right to Cancel: What It Means When You Quote a Homeowner

↑ Part of the Getting Paid series · Getting Paid On Time

When a homeowner agrees a job with you at their kitchen table, or by email after you have been round to look, they get a right to change their mind: 14 days to cancel, for any reason, with no penalty. The rule comes from the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, and it exists to protect people from doorstep selling. It also catches every genuine trade who quotes at the customer's home, which is nearly all of them. Handled properly it costs you nothing. Handled badly it can cost you the first fortnight's work.

This is a detail page under our Getting Paid On Time guide. It covers what the right to cancel applies to, the one thing you must give the customer, how to start inside the 14 days and still be paid for what you do, and what happens to a deposit.

Part 1Who gets the right, and when

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The right belongs to a consumer: a person buying for themselves, not for a business. A landlord company, a shop or a main contractor does not have it. A private homeowner does, whether the job is £500 or £50,000.

It arises in two situations:

• An off-premises contract. You agree the job somewhere other than your own business premises, and for a trade that means the customer's home. Talking it through on site and shaking hands, or leaving a quote and having them sign it there, both count.
• A distance contract. You never meet at the point of agreeing. They accept by email, by text, through an online acceptance link or over the phone.

It does not arise for a contract made at your premises, if you have a shop or an office the customer came to. Very few trades do, so assume it applies.

Two exceptions are worth knowing. Off-premises contracts under £42 are exempt. And if the customer has specifically asked you to come out for urgent repairs or maintenance, that visit is exempt too. The exemption covers only what was urgent: if you find more work while you are there and quote for it, that extra is an ordinary off-premises contract with the full right to cancel.

Part 2The 14 days, and the thing you must give them

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The period runs for 14 days from the day after the contract is made. For a job that includes goods (a boiler, a kitchen) it runs from the day after the goods are delivered instead, which can be later.

Before the customer is bound, you must give them the required pre-contract information, and the part that matters most here is notice of the right to cancel, in a durable form: on the quote, in the terms attached to it, or in an email. Alongside it goes a model cancellation form they can use if they want to. They do not have to use your form; a clear email saying they cancel is enough.

This is not optional, and the consequence of skipping it is severe. If you do not tell the customer about the right to cancel, the 14 days does not start. It extends for up to 12 months, until you do tell them, and only then does the clock run. Failing to give the notice on an off-premises contract is also a criminal offence, enforced by Trading Standards. Put it in your standard terms once and it is on every quote from then on.

Part 3Starting work inside the 14 days

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Most trades cannot leave a job for a fortnight after it is agreed, and the regulations do not ask you to. What they ask for is the customer's express request that you start during the cancellation period. For an off-premises contract that request has to be in a durable form: on the signed quote, in an email, in a text. A nod at the door is not enough.

With that request in place, if the customer then cancels inside the 14 days, they pay for the work done up to the point of cancelling, in proportion to the whole price. If they cancel after the job is finished, and you told them starting meant they would lose the right once it was complete, there is nothing to cancel.

Without that request, the position is the opposite: a customer who cancels inside 14 days can owe you nothing for work you have already done, because you did it at your own risk. Every trade who has been burned by this rule was burned here.

Three days' labour to the point of cancelling	£1,200.00
Materials fitted and not recoverable	£600.00
Owed for the work done	£1,800.00

The proportion is meant to reflect what was done, not what was scheduled. If the £6,000 price included a £2,000 item you had not yet started, it does not enter the sum.

Part 4Deposits and refunds

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If the customer cancels, you refund what they have paid within 14 days of being told, less any amount properly due for work done under an express request. So a deposit is not lost on cancellation; it is settled against the work.

Owed for the work done, from above	£1,800.00
Deposit already paid	−£1,500.00
Balance the customer still owes	£300.00

Had the deposit been larger than the work done, the difference would come back to them within 14 days. If nothing was started, the whole deposit comes back. Materials you ordered specially and cannot return are an argument for the express request and an itemised quote, not for keeping a deposit without one. Should I take a deposit? covers how to size one and how to ask.

Part 5How to make this routine

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None of this needs a solicitor. It needs four lines that are on every quote to a homeowner, every time:

• A plain statement that the customer has 14 days to cancel from the day after they accept, and how to tell you.
• A cancellation form, or a sentence saying an email will do.
• A line the customer ticks or signs asking you to start before the 14 days are up, and confirming they will pay for work done if they then cancel.
• A note that once the work is complete, the right to cancel no longer applies.

The regulations are about what the customer knew when they agreed, so the record of what they were told and what they asked for is the whole defence. A dated, accepted quote with those lines on it is that record. A real quote and its acceptance show where they sit on the page, and what to put in a quote covers the rest of the document.

Common questionsRight to cancel FAQ

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Does the 14-day right to cancel apply to business customers?

No. It protects consumers only. A quote to a landlord company, a shop, a main contractor or any customer buying for a business carries no statutory cooling-off period.

Can I start work before the 14 days are up?

Yes, if the customer asks you to in writing (a signed quote, an email or a text). With that request, they pay for work done up to any cancellation. Without it, you may not be able to charge for that work at all.

What if I never told the customer about the right to cancel?

The 14 days does not start until you do, up to 12 months later. Until then the customer can cancel at any time, and you may have to refund what they have paid. Failing to give the notice on an off-premises contract is also an offence.

Does the right to cancel apply to an emergency call-out?

Not to the urgent repair the customer asked you out for. Any further work you quote for while you are there is a new contract with the full 14 days.

Do I have to refund the deposit if they cancel?

Yes, within 14 days of being told, less a fair amount for any work done under the customer's written request to start. A deposit for a job that has not started comes back in full.

This guide is general information for UK tradespeople, current to the best of our knowledge in 2026, and is not tax, accounting or legal advice. Rates, thresholds and how they apply to you change, so confirm your position with HMRC, a qualified accountant or a solicitor before relying on it. TradeDraft accepts no liability for decisions made on the basis of this guide. Questions: hello@tradedraft.co.uk.