Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Consumer definition

What does Consumer mean? A consumer is, in practice, an individual who acquires goods, services or digital content for personal use, not for the purposes of a trade, business, craft or profession. The precise meaning is statutory and context‑specific. England & Wales and Scotland: The Consumer Rights Act 2015, s2(3), defines a consumer as an individual acting for purposes wholly or mainly outside their trade, business, craft or profession (capturing mixed‑purpose purchases where the business purpose is not predominant). The Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 instead asks whether a party “deals as consumer”, a distinct test relevant to exclusion and limitation clauses. The Sale of...

General (Non‑Life) Insurance for Consumers and Businesses: Policy Classes, Statutory and Regulatory Frameworks, Exclusions and Claims/Notification Essentials for Lawyers

Published by a LexisNexis Insurance & Reinsurance expert

Practice notes

Consumer insurance and commerCIal insurance for businesses

This PrACTice Note sets out an overview of several widely used insurance types, who may require them, and how they operate. Broadly, insurance falls into two groupings:

cover for consumers
cover for businesses

For individuals purchasing as consumers, the governing statute is the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012 (CI(DR)A 2012). CI(DR)A 2012 describes a consumer as an ‘individual who enters into the contract wholly or mainly for purposes unrelated to that individual’s business trade or profession’. The Act addresses what a consumer is obliged to tell the insurer before making, or changing, an insurance contract. See Practice Note: A guide to the Consumer Insurance (Disclosure and Representations) Act 2012 for additional detail.

For business policyholders, the applicable legislation is the Insurance Act 2015 (IA 2015). IA 2015 signifies a paradigm shift away from what had been seen as an outdated and overly insurer-friendly regime, aiming to achieve a ‘better balance of interests between policyholders and insurers’. Under IA 2015, s 1, any insurance contract that is not a consumer contract is treated as a non-consumer contract...

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Alexander Rosenfield

Fenchurch Law

Alex is a Senior Associate at Fenchurch Law. He specialises in insurance coverage disputes for policyholders with a focus towards property damage claims. Prior to joining Fenchurch Law in 2017, Alex worked at Elborne Mitchell in the heart of the London insurance market. He trained with BPS Law LLP in Manchester, specialising in policyholder coverage work. Alex is passionate about delivering Fenchurch Law’s mission statement of levelling the playing field for policyholders and has been quoted in several of the country’s leading insurance publications and newspapers on policyholder coverage issues. Those include an article for the Guardian which highlighted the challenges of complying with ‘Unoccupied Buildings’ conditions at the height of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Alex graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2009, before completing the LPC at the College of Law in 2010. Away from his practice, Alex is a member of the Society of...

John Curran

Indemnity Legal

John Curran joined Indemnity Legal in August 2021. John’s practice spans high-value/complex financial lines, D&O, transactional and tax, business interruption, and energy disputes.John joined Indemnity Legal after five years at Fenchurch Law, six years at DLA Piper, and 20 years at Clifford Chance. Though John now advises commercial policyholders exclusively on the resolution of high-value/complex insurance disputes, he has acted in the past for global insurers, brokers, and commercial/institutional policyholders in disputes arising in the London market and internationally.John is qualified in both England & Wales and Hong Kong and is a solicitor advocate....

Ayobami Babatunde

Fenchurch Law

I am an Associate Solicitor at Fenchurch Law.I completed my training contract at DAC Beachcroft LLP, joining Fenchurch Law in September 2023....

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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