Getting back a charge the law did not allow
Consumer Protection Act · sources read 5 Oct 2026
If a supplier charged you a fee or took a payment the Consumer Protection Act does not allow, you can demand a refund by giving notice within one year of paying, and go to court if you are not refunded. If you paid by credit card or another prescribed payment system, you can also ask the card issuer or payment provider to reverse the charge.
- Deadline
- Demand the refund within one year after paying.
- Where
- The supplier first; your card issuer or payment provider; then the appropriate court
Steps
- Give the supplier notice demanding a refund, within one year of paying.
- The notice can be spoken or written and sent any way. Writing (SMS, email or letter) helps you prove it.
- If you paid by credit card and the supplier did not refund you in time, ask the card issuer in writing to reverse the charge and any interest on it.
- If you are still not refunded, you can go to court to recover the money.
Watch out
- Nobody may charge you for helping you get a benefit or right the Act gives you, unless before you agree they tell you it exists, that you can get it directly, and what it would cost you directly.
- You can ask the card issuer to reverse the charge only after you have demanded a refund and the supplier has not refunded you in full within the required time.
- The same reversal right applies to other 'prescribed' payment systems, but which systems are prescribed is set by regulations.
Who this covers
- Any consumer who paid a fee or payment that a supplier charged or received in breach of the Consumer Protection Act.
- It also covers payments taken by someone who is not a supplier, if they charged you for help getting a right the Act already gives you without telling you first.
Official sources (1)
- Consumer Protection Act (Cap. 501), version of 31 December 2022 new.kenyalaw.org · read 5 Oct 2026