distance contract

any contract concerning financial services concluded between a supplier and a consumer under an organised distance sales or service provision scheme run by the supplier which, for the purpose of that contract, makes exclusive use (directly or through an intermediary) of one or more means of distance communication (that is, any means which, without the simultaneous physical presence of the supplier or intermediary and the consumer, may be used for the distance marketing of a service between those parties) up to and including the time at which the contract is concluded.

A contract is not a distance contract if:

1. (a) making, performing or marketing it does not constitute or form part of a regulated activity; or
1. (b) it is entered into on a strictly occasional basis outside a commercial structure dedicated to the conclusion of distance contracts; or
1. (c) a consumer, and an intermediary acting for a product provider, are simultaneously physically present at some stage before the conclusion of the contract; or
1. (d) it is entered into to comply with the requirement in Part 1 of the Pensions Act 2008 to automatically enrol or re-enrol employees into an automatic enrolment scheme.

[Note: recitals 15 and 18 to, and articles 2(a) and (e) of, the Distance Marketing Directive]