How much refund you can get after aggressive selling

The legal basis is the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008, which independent guidance cites directly for a full refund entitlement after aggressive or misleading selling¹. A commercial practice is aggressive if it causes a consumer to reach a decision about goods or services they may otherwise not have made, had they not been subjected to harassment, coercion or undue influence². That is the test, and it turns on the conduct of the sale rather than on the paperwork the household signed.

For a home energy installation the practical question is usually not whether a refund exists but who decides it, how long it takes, and what happens when the installer disputes the claim. The sections below set out the definition, the two refund figures, the evidence that supports a claim, and the escalation route where an installer has stopped trading.

What counts as aggressive selling under consumer law

Aggressive selling is a defined term, not a description. Independent guidance states that a commercial practice is aggressive if it causes a consumer to reach a decision about goods or services that they may otherwise not have made, had they not been subjected to harassment, coercion or undue influence². The definition is about effect on the household's decision, so a sales visit that felt merely persistent is not automatically caught, while conduct that tipped the decision is.

Independent guidance gives concrete examples: entering your home and refusing to leave, scare tactics, claiming you ordered something you have not, constant pestering, or using guilt to force a purchase¹. Official guidance for Northern Ireland gives a doorstep example, where a trader pressures a householder to pay in cash for home repairs immediately⁶. The pattern across both is pressure applied at the point of decision, in the home, with money changing hands before the household has had time to think.

The consequences for traders are not only civil. The Competition and Markets Authority can impose penalties of up to 10% of global turnover alongside other measures for serious infringements of consumer law⁵. That matters for how a complaint is framed: a documented pattern of aggressive practice at a company is a regulatory matter as well as an individual claim.

Pressure selling is not confined to installation work. Independent guidance records that energy customers experience aggressive tactics from unregulated debt collection⁷. The same conduct rules apply, and the same evidence, a dated record of what was said and when, supports both an individual refund claim and a wider complaint.

The refund: 75% of what you paid, decided independently

The refund figure depends on how far the transaction has gone. Independent guidance sets out a full refund where the product or service started less than 90 days ago and has not been used up, and a partial refund where the product or service started over 90 days ago, or a service has been used for a month or more, or the household is keeping what it paid for¹. Within the partial category, the guidance gives 75% for a serious case¹.

There is a second basis for calculating a refund where the sums are large. Independent guidance describes the difference between what was paid and what the item or service should have been worth, where the item or service cost £5,000 or more and the household paid more than the going market price, with clear evidence¹. That route suits a mis-sold installation where the work was done but the price was inflated, rather than a sale that should never have happened.

Where a refund is agreed, the mechanics are fixed. Consumer law requires a refund under the price reduction right to be given without undue delay and within 14 days beginning with the day on which the trader agrees the consumer is entitled to a refund⁴. The trader must not impose any fee on the consumer in respect of the refund⁴. The refund must use the same means of payment the consumer used, unless the consumer expressly agrees otherwise⁴.

For goods bought at a distance, by phone or online, independent guidance notes that refunds can be withheld until the consumer has returned the goods, and traders can deduct money if it appears the item has been used². Where the household expressly chose a more expensive delivery option, the trader reimburses delivery only up to the amount the least expensive common and generally acceptable kind of delivery would have cost⁸.

How the independent decision is made

The word independent carries weight here, and it appears in several different mechanisms. The Renewable Energy Consumer Code's Supervisory Panel is chaired by an independent consumer representative⁹. Birmingham's Switch Together solar and battery scheme was run with iChoosr Ltd, described in the scheme rules as independent experts in group-buying¹⁰. Neither of those bodies sets a refund percentage, but both illustrate the model of an outside party assessing a transaction the household did not control.

Where a dispute reaches formal arbitration, the decision is binding. Independent arbitration is available under a dedicated scheme operated by the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution, whose decision will be final and legally binding on both parties¹¹. Under the CIGA arbitration scheme, a partial or fully successful claim brings a full refund of the fee¹¹. That fee structure matters: it means the cost of arbitration is recovered where the household succeeds in part, not only where it wins outright.

Advice itself is meant to be free. Independent guidance describes the provision as free, tailored, independent advice delivered nationally which helps consumers navigate the market¹². For a household weighing a claim, that is the first stop before any formal process.

The parallel with benefit decisions is instructive on how independent review works in practice. A Winter Fuel Payment decision can be challenged by mandatory reconsideration and then appeal to an independent tribunal¹³. The Winter Heating Payment in Scotland runs a re-determination first, then an appeal to an independent tribunal¹⁴. Both show the same shape: the first decision is made by the body that made the original determination, and independence arrives at the appeal stage.

What to gather before you claim

Evidence is the difference between a complaint and a claim. Official scheme rules for disputes require the complainant to have sufficient evidence to support the case, including the date the complaint was raised with the company concerned¹⁵. The same requirement appears across the Energy Ombudsman's supplier pages: sufficient evidence including the date the complaint was raised with Outfox Energy¹⁶, with Axen Business House¹⁷, and with BGE¹⁸. The date is not a formality; it establishes that the household gave the company a chance to respond.

For a compensation scheme, the standard is documentary. Households seeking compensation for replacement heating oil purchases need to provide evidence of their replacement order, such as a receipt and delivery note¹⁹. Independent guidance on proving a claim points to the same discipline: if you exercise your short-term right to reject for a refund, that is, to reject the goods within 30 days, you may need the paperwork that shows when the goods were supplied²⁰.

A practical evidence list for an aggressive selling claim:

1. The signed contract and any cancellation notice, with dates.
2. A dated note of what was said at the sales visit, written as soon as possible afterwards.
3. The payment record, showing method and amount.
4. Any correspondence with the installer, including the date the complaint was first raised.
5. Photographs or a survey report if the installed work is also defective.

Where the claim also covers stress or inconvenience, independent guidance allows a claim for reasonable extra expenses, such as a delivery charge, with receipts kept as evidence¹. The seller does not have to pay those extra expenses if it can show it did all it could to avoid misleading the household or engaging in aggressive sales¹, which is why the dated record of the visit carries so much of the case.

Where a claim fits alongside other remedies

A refund is one remedy among several, and the law does not force a household to choose only one. Consumer law provides that the refund provisions do not prevent the consumer seeking other remedies for a breach, including claiming damages, recovering money paid where consideration has failed, specific performance, specific implement, relying on the breach against a trader's claim, or treating the contract as at an end, but not so as to recover twice for the same loss²¹. The final words are the limit: a household can pursue more than one route, but not be paid twice for the same loss.

The remedies sit alongside the installation-specific routes. Where an installer is still trading, the guarantee period obligation is to rectify any installation problems at no cost to the customer²². Where the installer has stopped trading and the guarantee is missing, fraudulent or cancelled, official guidance points to the National Energy Foundation²³. Families affected by faulty ECO4 and GBIS installations should first contact the installer who carried out the work, and where the installer is no longer trading or unable to remedy the damage, they can contact their guarantee provider to initiate a claim²³.

Deposit protection is a separate pot. Under deposit and stage payment protection, if completion by another installer cannot be arranged, the household may be eligible for a refund, subject to policy terms²⁴. That is a distinct route from an aggressive selling claim, and it depends on the policy rather than on the conduct of the sale.

On timing, official guidance on a dispute with an installer suggests giving the installer a week to respond²⁵. Where the matter concerns a feed-in tariff dispute, Ofgem publishes its own dispute resolution route²⁶. For households in fuel debt, official guidance on Additional Support Credit requires repayment terms to be aligned with the customer's ability to pay²⁷, which is relevant where a refund claim and an outstanding balance run at the same time.

The wider picture is that refunds are not automatic. Independent guidance records that over half of billpayers are having to chase their supplier for a refund instead of receiving them automatically²⁸. A household pursuing an aggressive selling refund should expect to drive the process rather than wait for it.