French Consumer Law is a comprehensive and comparative overview of French and EU law in this field, covering: advertising, unfair commercial practices, conditions for the validity of contracts, unfair terms, product conformity, latent defects, product safety.

French Consumer Law

Previously, the Consumer Code provided that information on the renewal of the contract should be issued in writing, without further clarification. Case law had admitted that a magazine could constitute the medium of this information . The professional was not required to indicate the deadline for sending the letter for the termination to be taken into account, meaning that obliging the consumer to …

Information on the renewal of the contract

Previously, the Consumer Code provided that information on the renewal of the contract should be issued in writing, without further clarification. Case law had admitted that a magazine could constitute the medium of this information . The professional was not required to indicate the deadline for sending the letter for the termination to be taken into account, meaning that obliging the consumer to calculate the deadline to send the letter in view of the date of expiry of his subscription and the need to send it one month before this date, did not constitute a breach .

Since the Hamon Law, pursuant to Article L. 215-1 (former Article L. 136-1) of the Consumer Code, the professional service provider  must inform the consumer by a personal letter or dedicated email, “at the earliest three months and no later than one month before the end of the period authorizing the rejection of the renewal, of the possibility not to renew the contract he has concluded with a tacit renewal clause. This information, delivered in clear and comprehensible terms, mentions, in a clearly visible box, the deadline for non-renewal”. If this is not the case, the consumer is free to end the contract free of charge, at any time after the date of renewal . According to the courts, the indication on two invoices, more than six months in advance, of the possibility to terminate, in very small print and under the line relating to the legal notice at the bottom of the page, is equivalent to a lack of information pursuant to Article L. 215-1 of the Consumer Code, meaning that the termination sent after the deadline by the co-owners' association must be considered as valid . In this case, any advance payments made must be repaid within 30 days from the date of termination, less the sums corresponding to the performance of the contract until this date. In the absence of reimbursement, the amounts due bear interest at the legal rate . Failure to indicate the consequences of the non-termination does not constitute a breach of Article L. 215-1 . The scope of application of this provision covers both consumers and non-professionals. It is applicable to a works committee acting for purposes not falling within the framework of a commercial, industrial, artisanal, self-employed or agricultural activity , and to a co-owners' association, whose main function is the maintenance and management of the building under the mandates given by the general meeting of co-owners, which is in the same position as a consumer in its relations with service providers . The Court of Cassation has confirmed that a professional management agency, acting as agent for each co-owners' association, must be regarded as a non-professional within the meaning of Article L. 215-1, the fact that the agency is duly empowered to terminate the contract concluded with the service provider not constituting a condition for the application of this text .

The provisions of Articles L. 215-1 to L. 215-3 and L. 241-3 (former Article L. 136-1) of the Consumer Code must be reproduced in full in the service contracts to which they apply .

 Law No 2022-1158 of 16 August 2022 on urgent measures to protect purchasing power  introduced a final paragraph to Article L.215-1, which is immediately applicable and provides that consumers may terminate, free of charge and at any time after their first renewal, any contract for the supply of a television service or on-demand audiovisual media service, if they change their place of residence or if their taxable household changes. 

In addition, the law on purchasing power added Article L. 215-1-1 to the Consumer Code, which is aimed at facilitating the cancellation of contracts concluded by electronic means. It is thus provided that when a professional offers the possibility of concluding a contract by electronic means, cancellation must also be possible by this method. The professional will be required to provide the consumer with a free function allowing him to complete the necessary steps to terminate his contract. The professional will also have to confirm receipt of the notice of termination and inform the consumer of the date on which the contract ends and the effects of the termination. New Article L. 215-1-1 and Article L. 241-3-1, which punishes the violation of these new termination procedures with a maximum administrative fine of EUR 15,000 for a natural person and EUR 75,000 for a legal person, will come into force no later than 1 June 2023.  

  CA Versailles, 16 June 2015, LawLex201500001455JBJ.

  Consumer Code, Article L. 215-4 (former Article L. 136-2).

  Excluding operators of drinking water and sanitation services (Article L. 215-2, former Article L. 136-1, paragraph 4).

  CA Paris, 19 March 2015, LawLex201500001454JBJ, upholding the late termination of the contract, to the extent that the information had not been issued fairly.

  CA Paris, 19 March 2015, LawLex201500001454JBJ.

  Consumer Code, Article L. 241-3 (former Article L. 136-1, paragraph 2).

  CA Versailles, 16 June 2015, LawLex201500001455JBJ. 

 Cass. com., 16 February 2016, LawLex201700002116JBJ; 15 June 2016, LawLex201700002115JBJ; 5 July 2017, LawLex201700002117JBJ.

   CA Paris, 19 March 2015, LawLex201500001454JBJ.

  Cass. 1re civ., 25 November 2015, LawLex201500001793JBJ.

French Consumer Law

396. Information on the renewal of the contract

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396. Information on the renewal of the contract

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Les décisions de justice citées dans ce paragraphe :

Les notions juridiques connexes

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au contenu exclusif Livv – juristes d’entreprise