UK consumer law for marketers: reviews, influencers, green claims

What the DMCC Act changes for marketers

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCC Act) contains the protection from unfair trading provisions that the CMA explains in its CMA207 guidance. According to that guidance, these provisions apply to commercial practices that happen from 6 April 2025 onwards. The Act also includes new or more detailed prohibitions on practices relating to fake consumer reviews and on 'drip pricing', where an initial headline price is shown and additional mandatory charges are introduced as the consumer proceeds with a purchase.

The CMA describes two main types of unfair commercial practice. Some practices are always considered unfair: Schedule 20 to the DMCC Act lists 32 banned commercial practices that are unfair in all circumstances.

Other practices are only unfair if they are likely to cause the 'average consumer' to take a 'transactional decision' they would not otherwise have taken. This covers misleading actions, misleading omissions, aggressive practices and conduct that falls short of professional diligence, which works as a safety net.

The guidance lists four types of misleading action: false or misleading information, an overall presentation likely to deceive, marketing that creates confusion with another trader or its product, and failing to comply with a code of conduct the trader claims to follow.

Banned practices marketers often meet

Several of the 32 banned practices concern everyday marketing. Examples from Schedule 20 include claiming to be a signatory to a code of conduct when you are not, displaying a trust mark or quality mark without authorisation, and claiming approval or endorsement by a public or private body when the claim is false.

Others concern offers and urgency: falsely stating that a product will only be available for a limited time to push an immediate decision, advertising products at a price you have reasonable grounds to believe you cannot supply in reasonable quantities without saying so, and presenting rights that consumers have by law as a distinctive feature of your offer.

The average consumer and aggressive practices

The CMA describes the average consumer as a notional construct. Where a group of consumers is particularly vulnerable to a practice, and the trader could reasonably foresee it, the relevant average consumer is the average member of that group. Information the trader conceals is treated as unknown to the average consumer, even if they could find it through their own research.

Aggressive practices are those using harassment, coercion or undue influence that are likely to change the average consumer's decision. Undue influence means exploiting a position of power to apply pressure that significantly limits the consumer's ability to make an informed decision.

Learning from worked examples

The CMA publishes worked examples showing how one practice can break several rules at once. In its second hand car example, a car 'clocked' to show 25,000 miles instead of 95,000 is analysed as a misleading action, a misleading omission and a breach of professional diligence.

The CMA also points out that the trader does not need to complete the sale to breach these rules: stating the false information is enough. Other examples cover doorstep home improvement sales and debt collection letters made to look like court papers.

To use this assistant, ask a concrete question about your own product page, review widget, creator campaign or sustainability slogan. The CMA notes that its guidance is not legal advice, and the same applies to the answers given here.

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