United Kingdom: Consumer Trading & Unfair Trading

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority has launched three additional investigations into hidden fees, intensifying its enforcement campaign against drip pricing practices.

The Competition and Markets Authority has intensified its enforcement against drip pricing and misleading price presentation, securing nearly £2 million in consumer refunds and imposing almost £6.2 million in fines since new powers took effect. With three new investigations launched—including one into Trainline—businesses face heightened scrutiny over how they present mandatory fees and charges to consumers.

The UK's Advertising Standards Authority has ruled against Nectar Sleep's "Save up to 65%" promotional campaign, finding that the basis of the savings claim was unclear and materially misleading to consumers. The decision highlights critical issues with how retailers calculate and present competitor price comparisons, particularly when using narrow product selections and averaging methodologies that may not reflect genuine market conditions.

Ofcom has issued a fine of £28 million for systemic failures in the way a company handled customers seeking to cancel their contracts. The regulator's investigation, which covered the period from January 2022...

The Advertising Standards Authority has issued a series of rulings on advertisements for less healthy food products, examining compliance with regulations designed to protect children from exposure to unhealthy food marketing. These decisions provide important guidance for advertisers navigating the complex landscape of food advertising restrictions and demonstrate how the ASA interprets and applies current rules.

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 has introduced sweeping changes to consumer protection law, granting the CMA unprecedented enforcement powers including the ability to impose multi-million-pound fines directly. With the regulator already launching a market study into private dentistry and conducting spot checks across consumer-facing websites, dental practices face heightened scrutiny across pricing transparency, subscription contracts, online reviews and patient-facing terms. How sho

The Competition and Markets Authority has issued its first infringement decision under the UK's new consumer enforcement regime, fining the AA £4.2 million for misleading pricing practices and requiring substantial consumer refunds. This landmark case signals a fundamental shift in UK consumer protection enforcement, with businesses now facing significantly tougher penalties including fines up to 10% of turnover and mandatory consumer redress schemes.

The pace of enforcement action in the UK’s revamped consumer regime is picking up. On 15 April 2026, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) announced that it had concluded the first of a number...

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has issued the outcome of one of the investigations that it launched in November about pricing transparency.