Rules for telemarketing

No valid agreement without your written approval

A company that sells goods or services over the phone must by law obtain a written approval from you for the agreement to be valid. The company must send a written confirmation of its offer, and the offer needs to be approved by you in writing.

The requirement of it being in writing applies if the company calls you up, or if you were encouraged by the company to call them. If you have not approved the agreement in writing, it is invalid and you have no payment obligation to the company.

How should a written approval be made?

A written approval can be provided in various ways. For example, you can:

• Sign a paper sent to you in the post.

• Approve electronically by email or text message.

• Approve by e-identification such as Bank ID.

The approval must take place after the call so that you have time to think about the offer. So it is not OK for the company to encourage you to approve the offer during the call. The company must be able to prove that you have approved in writing, and that you signed after the phone call ended.

Did you receive a payment demand although you did not provide your written approval?

On our page on Disputing an incorrect invoice, you can get information on what you can do if, for example, you receive an invoice from a company that previously contacted you by phone. Suggestions are also provided there on how you can word your correspondence when contacting the company.

To the page to dispute an incorrect invoice

Exceptions to the in-writing requirement

There are some exceptions to the in-writing requirement. Games and lotteries are one such example. If you accept an agreement on lottery tickets over the phone, there is accordingly no requirement that you have to approve the agreement in writing for it to be valid. When an agreement on games and lotteries is involved, you also have no right of withdrawal.

No in-writing requirement when you call the company

The requirement only concerns calls that take place on the company’s initiative. So it is crucial whether it is you or the company that initiated that specific call. It does not matter whether you are a new or existing customer. If you initiated the call, the in-writing requirement does not apply. One example is if you call a company to complain about something and are then offered a new subscription in the same call. If you accept the offer, the in-writing requirement does not apply.

If you have approved of a company contacting you for marketing purposes, it is not seen as if such a call was made on your initiative.

Right of withdrawal in telemarketing

For agreements reached by phone, you have a right of withdrawal for 14 days. If you exercise your right of withdrawal, it means that you are no longer obliged to make the purchase, and are entitled to get back the money you paid. However, you may need to pay for the return shipping yourself on condition that the company informed you of this.

When you buy a product, the 14 days begin counting the day after you received or collected the product. If you buy a service, the days begin counting the day after you consented to the agreement.

The right of withdrawal can be extended

By law, the company must give you the following information on the right of withdrawal in order for the 14 days, known as the withdrawal period, to begin counting:

• That there is a right of withdrawal.

• How much time you have to change your mind.

• What to do to withdraw from the purchase.

• That there is a standard form you can use when you change your mind and where to find this form.

If the company has not given you the information on all points, you can change your mind even if more than 14 days have passed. Your withdrawal period, meaning the time you have to withdraw from the purchase, can accordingly be extended. The withdrawal period can be extended by one year at most. It is the company that must be able to prove that you have received all the information on the right of withdrawal.

How to withdraw from the purchase

Go to our page for information regarding right of withdrawal to check if you have the right of withdrawal, get information on how to withdraw from the purchase and what applies if you and the company do not agree.

Read more about the right of withdrawal and how to use it

Special rules for financial services

There are special rules for telemarketing of financial services. Financial services refer, for example, to agreements on loans, insurance and payments.

Right of withdrawal

When you buy a financial service, the 14 days you have to withdraw from the purchase begin counting the day after you entered the agreement, but no earlier than the day you received information and contractual terms in written form. If the agreement concerns life insurance or private individual pension savings, the right of withdrawal is 30 days.

How to withdraw from the purchase

Notify the company that you want to exercise your right of withdrawal. You can notify the company how ever you want, but it is safest to do so in writing and to save a copy as proof. You can send an email, for example.

Once you have withdrawn from the purchase, you must pay back any money you received from the company within 30 days. If you paid in money to the company, your money must be repaid within 30 days.

Prohibited to sell products linked to a premium pension over the phone

It is prohibited to sell or market products or services linked to a premium pension over the phone. An agreement on premium pension products reached by phone is invalid and you are not obligated to pay the company.

Exceptions to the right of withdrawal

There are financial services that the right of withdrawal does not apply to. For example, it does not apply to the following:

• If the price of the financial service can increase or decrease due to fluctuations on the market, which means that the price changes during the time that the right of withdrawal normally applies, and the seller cannot influence the price difference. Shares are one such example.

• Credits that are linked to mortgages in real property, site leaseholds or tenant-owner rights.

• Insurance where the validity period is one month or less

Report problematic telemarketing

If you want to call attention to problems with telemarketing, you can do so by filing a report with the Swedish Consumer Agency. You can, for example, report if a company does not respect the in-writing requirement. You can also report companies that use inappropriate sales methods. Some examples of this can be if the company:

• Deliberately provides incorrect or misleading information at the time of sale.

• Has aggressive or insistent salespeople.

• Sends a product that you have not ordered.

• Sends an invoice without you having placed an order.

• Deliberately misleading or targeting vulnerable groups, such as the elderly and infirm.

The Swedish Consumer Agency does not investigate or decide your individual case, but reports are important for the agency’s supervisory work. The Swedish Consumer Agency checks that companies follow the rules and has a possibility of acting against those that do not do so.

File a complaint to the Swedish Consumer Agency

Would you like guidance in your personal case?

If you need guidance, you can contact us. We can provide information on your rights and what options you have to make progress.

Contact us