This guide covers what the Consumer Rights Act 2015 calls digital content, which its Explanatory Notes say includes software, music, computer games and apps. Digital content you pay for must be of satisfactory quality, reasonably fit for any purpose you made known to the trader, and as described. If it does not conform to those terms, you have the right to repair or replacement and the right to a price reduction.
Key points
✓Digital content is data which are produced and supplied in digital form, and the Explanatory Notes say it includes software, music, computer games and apps.
✓Digital content you pay for must be of satisfactory quality, reasonably fit for any purpose you made known to the trader, and as described.
✓If it does not conform to those terms, you have the right to repair or replacement and the right to a price reduction. You cannot treat the contract as at an end for that breach, but you can still seek other remedies such as claiming damages.
✓A price reduction can, where appropriate, be the full price, and it includes a refund of anything already paid above the reduced amount.
✓If digital content damages your device or other digital content in a way that would not have happened with reasonable care and skill, the trader must repair the damage or compensate you.
What counts as digital content?
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 defines digital content as data which are produced and supplied in digital form, and its Explanatory Notes say this includes software, music, computer games and apps.
✓Yes: Software, music, computer games and apps
✓Yes: Digital content supplied through streaming or downloading
✓Yes: Software supplied via cloud computing
✓Yes: A music streaming facility
✓Yes: Digital content you pay for by using a token, virtual currency or gift voucher that was originally bought with money
Not treated as the trader supplying digital content:
✗No: A service by which digital content reaches you, such as an Internet Service Provider
The Act applies to a contract to supply digital content for a price paid by the consumer, and also where the digital content is supplied free with goods, services or other digital content you pay for and is not generally available to consumers unless they have paid a price for it or for those goods, services or digital content.
Digital content you pay for is treated as including these terms:
✓Yes: Satisfactory quality: it meets the standard that a reasonable person would consider satisfactory, taking account of any description of it, the price and all the other relevant circumstances
✓Yes: Quality includes its state and condition and, in appropriate cases, fitness for all the purposes for which digital content of that kind is usually supplied, freedom from minor defects, safety and durability
✓Yes: Fitness for a particular purpose: if you made known to the trader before the contract any particular purpose for which you are contracting for it, it must be reasonably fit for that purpose, unless the circumstances show you do not rely, or it is unreasonable to rely, on the trader's skill or judgment
✓Yes: As described: it must match any description of it given by the trader, and information about its main characteristics, functionality and compatibility is treated as a term of the contract
Any public statement about its specific characteristics made by the trader, the producer or their representatives, including in advertising or labelling, is a relevant circumstance for satisfactory quality, subject to the exceptions in section 34(7).
The satisfactory quality term does not cover anything that makes the quality unsatisfactory if it was:
✗No: Specifically drawn to your attention before the contract was made
✗No: Something an examination you made of the digital content before the contract ought to have revealed
✗No: Something that would have been apparent on a reasonable examination of a trial version you examined before the contract
A term of the contract is not binding on you to the extent that it would exclude or restrict the trader's liability under the satisfactory quality, fitness for purpose or as described terms.
What remedies can you claim?
If digital content does not conform to the satisfactory quality, fitness for purpose and as described terms, your rights are the right to repair or replacement and the right to a price reduction.
1
Repair or replacement (first remedy)
If you require the trader to repair or replace the digital content, the trader must do so within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to you, and must bear any necessary costs, including the cost of labour, materials or postage. You cannot require repair or replacement if that remedy is impossible or is disproportionate compared to the other, and if you require or agree to one you cannot require the other without giving the trader a reasonable time, unless that would cause you significant inconvenience.
2
Price reduction (if repair or replacement fails)
You can only exercise the right to a price reduction if you can require neither repair nor replacement, or if you required one and the trader is in breach of the requirement to do it within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience to you. The right to a price reduction is the right to require the trader to reduce the price by an appropriate amount, including a refund of anything already paid above the reduced amount, and the reduction may, where appropriate, be the full amount of the price. A refund under this right must be given without undue delay, and in any event within 14 days beginning with the day on which the trader agrees you are entitled to it, using the same means of payment you used unless you expressly agree otherwise, and without any fee.
3
Damage caused to your device or other digital content
If digital content causes damage to a device or other digital content that belongs to you, and the damage is of a kind that would not have occurred if the trader had exercised reasonable care and skill, the trader must either repair the damage or compensate you with an appropriate payment. A compensation payment must be made without undue delay, and in any event within 14 days beginning with the day on which the trader agrees you are entitled to it, and you may bring a claim in civil proceedings to enforce the right.
You cannot treat the contract as at an end for breach of the satisfactory quality, fitness for purpose or as described terms, but the Act does not prevent you seeking other remedies, such as claiming damages, instead of or in addition to those rights, as long as you do not recover twice for the same loss.
Digital content which does not conform to the contract at any time within the six months beginning with the day on which it was supplied must be taken not to have conformed when it was supplied, unless the trader establishes that it did conform or that this is incompatible with the nature of the digital content or with how it fails to conform
If the trader did not have the right to supply the digital content, you have the right to a refund of all money paid for it, within 14 days beginning with the day on which the trader agrees you are entitled to it
For a film that is fundamentally substandard and fails to play at all, the Explanatory Notes say a price reduction may be a 100% refund because you obtained no benefit or no substantial or meaningful benefit
For a game you have already played and enjoyed, where a bug does not prevent it from being played, the Explanatory Notes say the appropriate reduction might be quite a small proportion of the amount paid
Subscriptions, ongoing rights
Where you are to have continuing access to a facility after the digital content was supplied, such as software accessed on the Cloud or a music streaming facility, the contract is treated as including a term that the facility must be available to you for a reasonable time, unless the contract specifies a time.
The satisfactory quality, fitness for purpose and description terms apply to all digital content transmitted to you on each occasion under the facility, while it is provided under the contract
If a single film fails to stream satisfactorily as part of a monthly subscription, the Explanatory Notes say the appropriate reduction may reflect the portion of the monthly subscription that could be ascribed to that film
GOV.UK says that once the new subscription rules come into force, expected to be in Spring 2027, consumers will benefit from clear, simple information before signing up, reminders before free or discounted trials end or 12 month or longer contracts automatically renew, straightforward cancellations including online exits for online sign ups, and a new 14-day cooling off period after a free or discounted trial ends or when a contract renews for 12 months or longer. Our subscription traps guide covers cancelling a subscription today.
Automatic updates and changed content
Where a trader supplies digital content subject to the right of the trader or a third party to modify it, the satisfactory quality, fitness for purpose and description terms apply to the digital content as modified.
The trader may improve the features of the digital content or add new features, as long as it continues to match the description given and the information about its main characteristics, functionality and compatibility, subject to any change you have agreed
A change to the information about its main characteristics, functionality and compatibility, made before the contract or later, is not effective unless you and the trader expressly agree it
After an update, the Explanatory Notes say the digital content must still be of satisfactory quality, be fit for purpose and match the description given
A claim that modified digital content does not conform is treated as arising when it was supplied under the contract, not when it was modified
How to make a complaint
1
Contact the trader in writing
Say what the problem is, when it started and that you require repair or replacement, and keep a record of everything you send and receive.
2
Escalate if they refuse
GOV.UK lists Citizens Advice for England and Wales on 0808 223 1133, Advice Direct Scotland on 0808 164 6000 and Consumerline for Northern Ireland on 0300 123 6262, and says the helpline can refer your complaint to local Trading Standards officers.
3
Chargeback via your bank
A chargeback lets you challenge and claw back a payment made with a debit or credit card, only in certain circumstances, and your bank will ask for supporting evidence before it starts the process. A bank does not have to raise a chargeback, and you usually have around 120 days to raise one, though the limit can be longer or shorter. Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 can give you a claim against your bank or lender if you paid some or all of the cost by credit card for a single item with a cash price of more than £100 and not more than £30,000, but it does not apply to a debit card, although your card provider may still be able to help through chargeback.
4
Small claims
In England and Wales the small claims track is the normal track for any claim with a value of not more than £10,000, in Scotland simple procedure is for cases worth less than £5,000 that are not complicated, and in Northern Ireland a small claim is in general one where the value to be claimed is not more than £5,000. A claim for damage to your device or other digital content is treated as an action founded on simple contract for limitation purposes, so the limit is six years from when the cause of action accrued in England and Wales and in Northern Ireland, and in Scotland an obligation to pay damages is extinguished after five years without a relevant claim.
I downloaded a game and it does not work as described, am I entitled to a refund?
Your rights are the right to repair or replacement and the right to a price reduction. A price reduction can, where appropriate, be the full price, and it includes a refund of anything already paid above the reduced amount. For a game you have already played and enjoyed, where a bug does not prevent it from being played, the Explanatory Notes say the appropriate reduction might be quite a small proportion of the amount paid.
A streaming service removed content I was watching mid-subscription, can I claim anything?
A change to the information about the main characteristics, functionality and compatibility of the digital content, made before the contract or later, is not effective unless you and the trader expressly agree it. If a single film fails to stream satisfactorily as part of a monthly subscription, the Explanatory Notes say the appropriate reduction may reflect the portion of the monthly subscription that could be ascribed to that film.
My antivirus software caused my computer to crash and I lost files, can I claim?
If digital content causes damage to a device or other digital content that belongs to you, and the damage is of a kind that would not have occurred if the trader had exercised reasonable care and skill, the trader must either repair the damage or compensate you with an appropriate payment. A compensation payment must be made without undue delay, and in any event within 14 days beginning with the day on which the trader agrees you are entitled to it, and you may bring a claim in civil proceedings to enforce the right.
Does my right to cancel a subscription give me a refund for months already paid?
For breach of the satisfactory quality, fitness for purpose or as described terms you cannot treat the contract as at an end, but you can seek other remedies such as claiming damages. The right to a price reduction includes a refund of anything already paid above the reduced amount. GOV.UK says the new subscription rules, expected to come into force in Spring 2027, will bring a new 14-day cooling off period after a free or discounted trial ends or when a contract renews for 12 months or longer.
Know Your Rights UK. "Digital Products: Your Rights for Faulty Downloads & Apps." Know Your Rights UK, https://www.knowyourrightsuk.com/consumer/digital-products