Cancel something you bought on hire purchase

Summary

You should speak to the organisations you owe money to – they might let you pay smaller amounts or take a break from payments. Don’t ignore bills or letters about money you owe. Find out how to start dealing with your debt. There are very limited circumstances when you can return the item and get a full refund. You must have signed up in the last 14 days and signed up in one of the following ways: You’ll still be within the ‘cooling-off period’ if this is the case, which means you can cancel without charge. Contact the company and tell them you’d like to cancel. If you're not eligible for a refund, you might owe the company money if you cancel. If you’ve paid off less than half of the item, you legally only have to pay for half the cost of the item minus what you’ve already paid in instalments. If you’ve paid off half the item or more, you legally don’t have to pay any more. You bought a £900 sofa on hire purchase. You agreed to pay for it over 2 years for £37.50 a month. After 6 months you decide you want to return it. Half the price of the sofa is £450 and you’ve paid £225 so far. Because you’ve paid less than half the item, you owe the company another £225. You bought a £600.

Key information

• •You should speak to the organisations you owe money to – they might let you pay smaller amounts or take a break from payments.
• •Don’t ignore bills or letters about money you owe. Find out how to start dealing with your debt.
• •There are very limited circumstances when you can return the item and get a full refund. You must have signed up in the last 14 days and signed up in one of the following ways:
• •You’ll still be within the ‘cooling-off period’ if this is the case, which means you can cancel without charge. Contact the company and tell them you’d like to cancel.
• •If you're not eligible for a refund, you might owe the company money if you cancel.
• •If you’ve paid off less than half of the item, you legally only have to pay for half the cost of the item minus what you’ve already paid in instalments.
• •If you’ve paid off half the item or more, you legally don’t have to pay any more.
• •You bought a £900 sofa on hire purchase. You agreed to pay for it over 2 years for £37.50 a month. After 6 months you decide you want to return it. Half the price of the sofa is £450 and you’ve paid £225 so far. Because you’ve paid less than half the item, you owe the company another £225.
• •You bought a £600 washing machine on hire purchase. You agreed to pay for it over 2 years for £25 a month. After 1 year and 3 months you can’t keep up the payments and have to cancel the agreement. Since you’ve already paid for over half of the item, you don’t have to pay any more.
• •Call or write to the company - you can use our template letter to help you.
• •You’ll need to return the item or arrange with the company for it to be picked up.
• •Contact the Citizens Advice consumer service for advice if the company is trying to make you pay more than you legally owe - a trained adviser can give you advice.

Practical guidance

• •Source: [Cancel something you bought on hire purchase](https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/changed-your-mind/cancel-something-being-paid-for-on-hire-purchase/)

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