Apps, downloads and other digital content have their own statutory quality rights.
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 contains a specific regime for digital content supplied for a price or in certain linked transactions. Digital content must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described. The rules recognise that digital products can fail differently from physical goods.
The usual remedies are repair or replacement, then a price reduction where repair or replacement is impossible or cannot be provided within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience. There is also a specific remedy where defective digital content damages a consumer’s device or other digital content because the trader failed to exercise reasonable care and skill.
Key points
- Digital content includes many downloads, games, apps, ebooks, music, software and streamed content.
- Compatibility and functionality statements can form part of the description.
- You may lose a distance-selling cancellation right for an immediate download only if the required consent and acknowledgement process was followed.
- A faulty download is different from simply changing your mind after accessing content.
Quality, description and fitness for purpose
The same basic ideas used for goods are adapted to digital content. A paid app that cannot perform the core function it was sold to perform, a game meaningfully different from its description, or software incompatible with a system it was specifically represented as supporting may engage statutory rights.
Repair, replacement and price reduction
The trader normally gets the opportunity to repair or replace the digital content. The remedy must be provided within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience. If that cannot be achieved, an appropriate price reduction can follow.
Damage to a device or other content
If digital content supplied by a trader causes damage to a consumer’s device or other digital content, and the damage would not have occurred had the trader exercised reasonable care and skill, the Act provides for repair of the damage or appropriate compensation. Causation matters: preserve diagnostic records and evidence of what happened.
Digital content has a separate statutory remedy structure.
The Consumer Rights Act 2015 gives specific rights for digital content supplied under a consumer contract. Digital content must be of satisfactory quality, fit for a particular purpose made known to the trader and as described. Examples can include downloaded software, games, music, e-books and other data supplied in digital form.
Do not automatically import the faulty-goods 30-day refund rule into a pure digital-content dispute. The primary digital-content remedies are repair or replacement, followed by price reduction where repair/replacement is impossible or is not carried out within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience. The Act separately provides a refund where the trader did not have the right to supply the digital content.
Repair or replacement must actually solve the conformity problem.
The trader must provide repair or replacement within a reasonable time, without significant inconvenience and at its own cost. What is reasonable depends on the product and how it is used: a defective entertainment download and software essential to paid professional functionality may create very different levels of inconvenience.
If repair or replacement is impossible or fails to resolve the problem within the statutory standard, an appropriate price reduction becomes available. For digital content, the price reduction can include a full refund where appropriate. Where access is ongoing, the nature and duration of the failure may affect what reduction is appropriate.
| Problem | Evidence to preserve |
|---|---|
| Software will not install/run | System requirements shown at purchase, device details, error logs/screenshots and support responses. |
| Missing advertised feature | Product page, version number, feature list and date purchased. |
| Content repeatedly unavailable | Service-status records, timestamps, subscription period and outage evidence. |
| Trader blames your device | Compatibility statements, diagnostics, other working software and any trader-requested troubleshooting. |
Damage to your device can create a separate remedy.
Where digital content supplied by a trader causes damage to a consumer’s device or other digital content, and the damage would not have occurred if the trader had exercised reasonable care and skill, section 46 provides a specific remedy. The trader must either repair the damage within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience or compensate the consumer with an appropriate payment.
Causation matters. Keep logs, screenshots, backup information, repair reports and a clear timeline showing what happened immediately before and after the digital content was installed or used. Do not wipe or rebuild the device before preserving the evidence if the issue is serious enough to dispute.
Common digital-content refusals.
| What you may be told | What to check |
|---|---|
| “Digital purchases are never refundable.” | There is no blanket rule. The statutory remedy depends on the breach; price reduction or a refund for lack of right to supply can apply. Distance-cancellation rules may also apply before supply begins. |
| “You clicked download, so all rights are gone.” | Starting supply can affect the separate 14-day change-of-mind cancellation right where the legal consent/acknowledgment requirements are met. It does not erase statutory rights in faulty digital content. |
| “Your device is unsupported.” | Check what compatibility/system information was actually provided before purchase and whether the device met it. |
| “We can patch it eventually.” | Repair must be within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience; indefinite troubleshooting is not the statutory test. |
| “The terms allow us to remove features.” | A variation term must itself be fair and transparent, and the altered content still has to comply with applicable contractual/statutory obligations. |
Embedded digital content may also engage goods rights.
Modern goods often depend on software: phones, televisions, cars, smart appliances and connected devices. If the physical goods do not conform because required digital content is defective, the goods provisions can be relevant as well as the digital-content rules. Do not let a retailer split an integrated product into “hardware” and “software” if the defect prevents the goods from meeting the contracted standard.
Likewise, where digital content is supplied as part of an ongoing service, identify whether the complaint is about the digital content itself, the service performance, or both. The correct remedy can depend on that classification.
Useful wording
“The digital content does not conform to the contract because [fault/description/fitness issue]. Please provide the statutory repair or replacement within a reasonable time and without significant inconvenience. If that cannot be done, I will seek an appropriate price reduction under the Consumer Rights Act 2015.”
In practice
- Record the version number, device, operating system and error messages.
- Save the product page or compatibility claim that existed when you bought.
- If an update causes the problem, record the update date and whether rollback or repair was offered.
What to do
A practical next-step plan
- Capture the product description and purchase confirmation.
- Record the exact fault, including screenshots and version information.
- Contact the trader, not only the platform or developer, and request the statutory remedy.
- If repair/replacement fails or is impossible, ask for an appropriate price reduction.
- If other data or a device was damaged, preserve technical evidence linking the damage to the digital content.
Common traps
Things that often confuse the issue
- Digital purchases are not automatically excluded from consumer law.
- An “all sales final” label does not remove statutory rights for defective content.
- Cancellation rights and fault remedies are separate questions.
Evidence worth keeping
Free apps are not simply treated like paid goods
Do not assume that every free app automatically carries the full set of ordinary paid digital-content conformity remedies. The Consumer Rights Act’s digital-content chapter principally covers specified contracts where the digital content is paid for, supplied with paid-for content/goods/services, or obtained using a paid facility such as purchased virtual currency.
There is, however, an important separate protection: section 46 applies to digital content supplied under a contract even where no money is paid. If the content causes damage to the consumer’s device or other digital content and the trader failed to exercise reasonable care and skill, the trader may have to repair the damage or pay appropriate compensation.
Official sources
Check the rules behind this guide
- Consumer Rights Act 2015: legislation.gov.uk
- Consumer Rights Act 2015: GOV.UK overview
- Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 46: damage to device or other digital content
These are official or primary sources for this topic. Rules, scheme terms and deadlines can change, so check the live source before relying on a formal time limit or procedure.