Why a contract signed at home counts
Where you sign is what counts. Under regulation 5 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, a deal struck anywhere except the "business premises of the trader" is off-premises. Your living room, your front step and your driveway all qualify. A roofer who climbs up, comes down, and has you sign in your hallway has made exactly that kind of contract.
Regulation 29 then lets you cancel at any point in the cancellation period, with no reason given. You need not show that the work was poor or the price wrong; a change of mind is enough.
For a service such as a re-roof, regulation 30 sets the period at 14 days, running out 14 days after the day you made the contract. Citizens Advice calls 14 days the minimum cooling-off period a seller must give, and it counts day one as the day after you sign.
A signature given at the roofer's own office or at a trade counter is a different case, so check where yours was made before you rely on the 14 days.
Longer than 14 days, and shorter
Two situations change how long the period lasts. Regulation 31 lengthens it when the trader did not make you aware that the right existed. The period then runs on for 12 months after the day on which it would otherwise have ended, so a contract with no cancellation notice in it can be cancelled long after signing.
The pressure the other way comes from work that starts early. Under regulation 36, a trader may begin the work inside the 14 days only if you expressly ask for that, and for an off-premises contract the request has to be made on a durable medium, such as a signed form or an email. A roofer who turns up on day two without anything of the kind in writing has not met that rule.
| Situation | Position |
|---|---|
| Signed at home, notice given | 14 days from the day after signing |
| Signed at home, no notice given | Up to 12 months more |
| Work started in the period | Only on your written request |
| Urgent repair visit you asked for | No right to cancel |
The urgent repair exception
Regulation 28(1)(e) removes the right to cancel where you made a point of asking the trader round to carry out "urgent repairs or maintenance". Citizens Advice frames it as your own invitation: you asked the firm in because something needed mending quickly, and that invitation is what takes the cooling-off period away.
A ceiling dripping at midnight and a roofer called to stop it is the clear case. You asked for the visit, the repair was urgent, and the 14 days do not apply.
The wording follows the visit you requested. A survey booked weeks ahead for a whole re-roof is not the same as a leak you rang about that day. If a trader calls the work urgent only after you have signed, ask what made it so before you accept that the right has gone, and ring the helpline given below.
Nothing here stops an emergency repair being challenged afterwards. Your right to work done with reasonable care and skill stays in place, and our answer on what to do if a roofer's work is poor covers how to use it.
How to cancel, and who to ring
If you want to cancel and you are still inside the period, put it in writing and keep a copy. A dated email or letter is easier to point to later than a phone call, and it fixes the day you gave notice.
- Find the contract and the date it was signed.
- Count the days from the day after, and send your notice well inside them.
- Say clearly that you are cancelling, and name the job and the address.
- Keep proof that you sent it, such as a sent-mail record or a postal receipt.
If the roofer disputes your right, or you are unsure which period applies, the Citizens Advice consumer helpline is on 0808 223 1133.
Before you sign anything, it helps to know what a written roofing quote should include and whether a request for money up front is fair, which our answer on roofer deposits sets out.
For roofing in Margate and the rest of Thanet, the price is put in writing after the survey, so you have it in front of you and can read every word before you decide.
