An order arrives in two parcels two weeks apart: when does the 14-day cancellation period start, and when does it end?

A customer orders a coat and a pair of boots in one basket. The boots arrive on Monday 2 November 2026. The coat is on back order and arrives on Friday 6 November. On the 9th the customer writes: "I'd like to cancel the boots." Is the clock running from the 2nd, the 6th or the order date?

For a shop selling online to consumers, the answer is set by regulation 30 of the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, and it counts from delivery, not from the order.

The rule in the Regulations' words

For a goods contract the cancellation period is 14 days. Regulation 30 says when it starts and ends:

• One delivery. The period ends "at the end of 14 days after the day on which the goods come into the physical possession of" the consumer, or a person they name who is not the carrier.
• Several goods in one order, delivered on different days. It runs from the day "the last of the goods come into the physical possession of" the consumer or their named person.
• Several lots or pieces, delivered on different days. It runs from the day "the last of the lots or pieces come into the physical possession of" them.
• Regular delivery over a set period of more than one day. It runs from the day "the first of the goods come into the physical possession of" the consumer or their named person.

So the coat and boots case sits in the second bullet: the period runs from the day the last item arrives, the 6th, and ends on the 20th.

Five invented orders

Check the arithmetic. A: 3 plus 14 is 17 November. B: 6 plus 14 is 20 November, 18 days after the 2nd. C: 26 November plus 13 days is 9 December, and 9 December plus 14 days is 23 December, so 27 days from the first parcel; counting 14 days from the first parcel would have given 10 December, 13 days earlier. D: 2 plus 14 is 16 November. E: the normal period would end on 17 November 2026, and 12 months after that is 17 November 2027, a Wednesday.

Row E: the missing information

Regulation 31 is the one that catches shops. If the trader does not give the cancellation information the Regulations require, the period is extended. If you give it within 12 months of the first day of the period, it ends 14 days after the customer receives it. If you never do, it ends "12 months after the day on which it would have ended". The rule reads as quoted from legislation.gov.uk; we did not read the list of required information, so check it before relying on this.

For a shop, that means a cancellation page and an order confirmation that actually show the right to cancel are not decoration. See what the order confirmation email must contain.

What this does not tell you

The cancellation period is only the window for the customer to say they are cancelling. We did not read the regulations on how notice is given, how long the shop has to refund, or when the customer must send the goods back, and the example orders ignore all of those. For those steps use the returns rights checker and the request-to-money-back checklist. A faulty item is a separate right, covered in do I have to accept this return, and what do I refund.

What to do this week

1. Record the delivery date for every order, not only the dispatch date. Carrier tracking gives it.
2. For orders that ship in parts, log the date of the last part and add 14 days.
3. Mark subscription or regular-delivery products separately, since their period starts at the first delivery.
4. Check that your confirmation email and policy page give the cancellation information, so row E never applies to you.

Overlyft can set up an AI assistant that joins your team, reads the tracking events for each order, works out the cancellation end date and drafts the reply to a customer, for a person to check and send.

This is general information, not legal advice. The Regulations give the answer for your own order.