Business advice
Business advice
Understanding the laws that affect you is an important part of running a successful business. This section is a quick guide to the main rules covering how you sell, how you treat your customers, how you compete, and how you can protect your business from scams.
If you have any doubts about how the law applies to your business, or if you want advice about a dispute, you should seek professional legal advice.
For more detail, see the legal powers area of this website.
Beyond the competition and consumer laws the OFT enforces, there are other regulations that might affect your business, for example, relating to health and safety, employment and the standard of your products and services. To read about your wider legal duties, you can visit the Business Link website. Business Link is a government funded organisation that provides practical advice and support for businesses.
Guidance hubs
The Sale of Goods Act (SOGA) hub
The Sale of Goods Act (SOGA) hub provides comprehensive and up to date guidance on the sale of Goods Act for retailers and business support organisations.
Including training presentations, an easy reference flowchart, information documents and posters, all materials provided are available online or to download in a variety of formats.
The Distance selling hub
The OFT's Distance Selling (DS) hub is a free online resource providing online training guidance for retailers and their staff.
The hub covers regulations that affect buying and selling goods and services via the internet, by phone or by mail order (the Distance Selling Regulations - DSRs) and electronic means such as the internet, email, interactive TV or phone texting (the E-Commerce Regulations - ECRs).
Advice areas
Treating customers fairly
Treating customers fairly
Treating customers fairly is vital to ensuring that you win and retain customers.
The Enterprise Act and the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations are used to ensure businesses comply with consumer protection legislation
Find more information on enforcement of consumer law
Find publications on consumer law in our publication section
Find more about...
- Advertising
- Continuous Payment Authority principles
- Doorstep selling
- Enforcement of consumer law
- The Enterprise Act
- Funerals industry - achieving compliance with consumer protection law
- Groceries - Controlled Land
- Issuing contracts
- Payment Protection Insurance
- The Sale of Goods Act and SOGA hub
- Selling extended warranties
- Selling online and at a distance
- Unfair trading regulations
Competing fairly
Competing fairly
The Competition Act aims to promote healthy competition. It prohibits anti-competitive agreements between firms such as agreements to fix high prices or to carve up markets, and it makes it illegal for companies to abuse a dominant market position.
You need to be aware of the main rules to avoid breaking the law or becoming a victim of others' anti-competitive practices.
See Competition law - advice for businesses
Find publications on competing fairly here
Find more about...
- Cartels and leniency
- Mergers
- The Competition Act
- What does the Competition Act prohibit?
- The Enterprise Act
- Report suspicious behaviour
- Private litigation
Offering credit
Offering credit
The Consumer Credit Act 1974 requires most businesses that offer credit, lend money or provide debt counselling or debt adjusting services to consumers to be licenced by the OFT.
Trading without a licence is a criminal offence and can result in a fine and/or imprisonment.
Find credit licensing publications
Find more about...
- Do I need a credit licence
- How do I apply for a licence
- Licensing fees
- How do I comply with the law
- Credit advertising
- Consumer Credit Act
- Enforcement of the Consumer Credit Act
- Consumer Credit Register
- Anti-money laundering regulations
- Unenforceable credit agreements
Estate agents
Estate agents
This information is for people who are working as an estate agent. It tells you what you must do to meet your legal obligations.
The Estate Agents Act 1979 regulates your work as an estate agent. Its purpose is to make sure that you act in the best interests of your clients, and that both buyers and sellers are treated honestly, fairly and promptly.
View estate agents publications
Find more about...
- How to comply
- Estate Agents Act
- Estate Agents Redress Scheme (EARS)
- Register of prohibited and warned estate agents
- How to make a complaint about an estate agent
- Anti-money laundering regulations
Anti-money laundering
Anti-money laundering
Money laundering is the process by which criminally obtained money, or
other assets, are exchanged for clean money or assets with no obvious link
to their criminal origins.
The Money Laundering
Regulations aim to detect, deter and disrupt money laundering.
To comply with the Regulations, certain categories
of business need to register with the OFT.
Find more about...
Self regulation
Self regulation
Self-regulatory initiatives aim either to achieve compliance with consumer law or to go beyond what the law requires. Self-regulation is usually achieved through a set of rules such as a code of practice, through voluntary standards, or through accreditation. It may also include arrangements for the provision of industry guidance material and for action to address particular compliance problems.
The OFT believes in avoiding unnecessary regulatory burden. We acknowledge the benefits of businesses seeking to regulate themselves to deliver high standards for consumers.
Find more about...
OFT approved codes
OFT approved codes
The OFT's Consumer Codes Approval Scheme has been closed
From April 2013, under changes to the consumer landscape protection regime, introduced by Government, the OFT will no longer be responsible for approving consumer facing codes of practice. The Government has invited the Trading Standards Institute (TSI) to operate a successor scheme to the Consumer Codes Approval Scheme. See further details of the TSI scheme.
Find more about...
Competition Act and cartels
Competition Act and cartels
The OFT currently has 21 Competition Act or criminal cartel cases open. On this page you can find information on the Competition Act and related investigations, decisions, consultations and case closure summaries, where those cases are in the public domain. Find out what constitutes a cartel, how to complain about one, and how a business could be granted immunity from prosecution if they inform the OFT of their involvement.
Find more about ...
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