Consumer Protection Act coverage that builds your defence before a claim
Every supplier obligation tracked with product safety controls in place, complaint trends surfaced early, and the evidence of your systems ready when it matters.
Compliance at a glance
What the Consumer Protection Act requires
Consumer documents reviewed and versioned
Standard terms, notices and consumer-facing documents held with plain language assessments, legal sign-off and version history. Dimeri flags terms that need attention.
Complaint trends that surface early
Complaints, returns and warranty claims structured by product, batch and channel. Recurring defects appear as a pattern before they become a recall.
Product safety in the risk register
Product safety risks held with controls covering design review, testing, warnings and supplier quality. The evidence strict liability demands, built before a claim arrives.
Recall readiness on standby
Trigger criteria, owners, communication steps and supplier contacts defined in advance. The decision window during a product safety event is planned rather than improvised.
Consumer Protection Act compliance, covered by default
The foundational parts of consumer protection compliance are built in, including document review, complaint tracking, product safety controls and recall readiness, so product liability exposure is managed before a claim arises.
Consumer document templates
Standard terms, notices and consumer-facing documents held with versions, plain language assessments and legal sign-off records.
Complaint trend analysis
Complaints, returns and warranty claims structured by product, batch and channel so recurring defects surface as a pattern, not individual resolutions.
Product safety risk register
Product safety risks held with controls covering design review, testing, warnings and supplier quality. This is the evidence strict liability demands.
Recall readiness process
Trigger criteria, owners, communication steps and supplier contacts defined before a recall is needed, so the decision window is planned rather than improvised.
Supply chain liability tracker
Product liability under the CPA is joint and several across the supply chain. Supplier indemnities, insurance and quality agreements tracked alongside your own controls.
The obligations Dimeri tracks
Dimeri holds the supplier duties as obligations with owners and evidence, and the complaint trail that shows how issues were handled.
Plain language and notices
Documents in plain and understandable language, with terms that limit liability, impose risk or constitute an acknowledgement drawn to the consumer's attention.
- Consumer documents held with review dates
- Plain language assessment recorded per document
- Risk-shifting terms flagged and their notice evidenced
- Version history retained against each template
Cooling-off and cancellation
The right to cancel a direct marketing transaction within the cooling-off period, and to cancel advance reservations subject to reasonable charges.
- Cancellation requests logged with dates
- Refund timelines tracked against deadlines
- Cancellation charges assessed for reasonableness
- Direct marketing transactions identified as such
Unfair terms and prohibited provisions
Terms that are unfair, unreasonable or unjust, and provisions that are prohibited outright in any consumer agreement.
- Contract templates reviewed against fairness and prohibited-terms rules
- Prohibited provisions removed and the review evidenced
- Legal sign-off recorded per template version
- Reassessment scheduled rather than left to renewal
Quality, safety and the implied warranty
The right to safe, good quality goods and the six month implied warranty allowing repair, replacement or refund at the consumer's election.
- Returns and warranty claims logged with outcomes
- Consumer election recorded, not assumed
- Recurring defects trended by product and batch
- Supplier recovery tracked where applicable
Product liability
Liability for harm from unsafe goods, product failure, defect, hazard or inadequate instructions, without proof of negligence, joint and several across the chain.
- Product safety risks held in the risk register
- Instructions and warnings reviewed and versioned
- Recall process with owners and trigger criteria
- Supplier indemnities and insurance tracked
Complaints and redress
The routes available to consumers, including the supplier's own process, accredited ombud schemes, provincial regulators and the Commission.
- Complaint register with source, outcome and timing
- Ombud and Commission referrals tracked
- Root cause analysis across recurring complaints
- Reporting to management on complaint trends
Getting Consumer Protection Act coverage in place
4 steps from where you are today to a Consumer Protection Act position your auditor can rely on.
Book a demoWhich transactions fall within the Act, and where the juristic person threshold or another exclusion applies. This determines the scope of everything downstream.
How Dimeri covers Consumer Protection Act
Templates reviewed and versioned
Standard terms, notices and consumer documents are held with versions, review dates and the legal sign-off behind each. A single unfair term in a widely used template is the most efficient way to create systemic exposure.
Complaints that surface a pattern
Individual complaints resolve. The same defect appearing across a batch or a channel only becomes visible when complaints share a structure, and that is what precedes a recall decision.
Product safety in the risk register
Product liability under the CPA is strict, so the defensible position is evidence of the systems behind the product: design review, testing, warnings, supplier controls. Those sit as controls against product safety risks.
Consumer Protection Act questions
Can we disclaim product liability under the CPA?
No. The CPA imposes strict liability for harm from unsafe goods, product failure, defects, hazards or inadequate instructions irrespective of negligence, and it is joint and several across producer, importer, distributor and retailer. The Act provides specific defences, but a contractual disclaimer is not one of them.
Does the Act apply to business customers?
Not always. Transactions where the consumer is a juristic person whose asset value or annual turnover exceeds the threshold determined by the Minister fall outside the Act. That threshold and its application should be confirmed with your legal advisers, since it determines whether the Act applies to a large part of many B2B books.
What is the six month implied warranty?
The CPA gives the consumer the right to return goods within six months of delivery if they do not meet the quality standard, and to choose whether they want a repair, replacement or refund. The choice belongs to the consumer, not the supplier, which is the part most commonly got wrong in practice.
Where do consumers complain?
The CPA provides several routes: the supplier's own process, an accredited industry ombud where one exists for the sector, provincial consumer authorities, the National Consumer Commission and ultimately the National Consumer Tribunal. Tracking which route a complaint took matters, because the timelines and consequences differ.
Is this a substitute for legal advice?
No. The CPA's application depends on the nature of the transaction and the parties, and product liability exposure is significant. Your legal advisers should confirm what applies to your business.
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