The short answer
Under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, a contract made at your home is an off-premises contract, and you can cancel it within 14 days without giving a reason. A roofer can begin inside that window only at your express request, made on paper or by email. Cancel once work is under way and you pay a proportionate amount for what was done.
Which roofing contracts the cancellation right covers
The right comes from the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013. They apply to what the law calls off-premises contracts. Regulation 5 describes one as a contract made with the trader and the consumer physically present together in a place that is not the trader's business premises, and your own home is the obvious example.
So if a roofer visits, inspects the loft, talks through the work and you agree a price at the kitchen table, you have made an off-premises contract. The same applies if the roofer calls unannounced and you agree on the doorstep. Contracts made entirely by phone or online fall under the related distance rules, which carry a similar right.
The regulations are aimed at consumers, meaning individuals buying for personal use. A landlord or business arranging work for a commercial building is in a different position, so check your own circumstances rather than assuming. If you are unsure, Citizens Advice or your local Trading Standards service can tell you how the rules apply to your contract.
How the 14 days are counted
Regulation 29 says you may cancel at any time in the cancellation period without giving any reason. For a service such as roofing, regulation 30 starts the clock the day after you sign, and the period closes when 14 days have passed. If you sign on a Monday, the day of signing does not count, and the 14 days run from the Tuesday.
You do not need a clever explanation. A change of heart, a cheaper quote from another firm or simple second thoughts are all enough. The safest way to cancel is in writing, by email or letter, with the date and the name of the job, and keep a copy. Send it in good time and keep proof you sent it. A cancellation form should have been supplied with the paperwork, but you can use your own wording as long as it is clear.
If the firm did not give you the required cancellation information, regulation 31 extends the period, and it can run for up to 12 months after the day it would otherwise have ended. A missing notice is a common sign of a sloppy or careless trader.
Starting work sooner than 14 days
Roofing is often urgent, and a firm may want to start straight away. Regulation 36 allows that only in a narrow way. A trader may not start the service until the cancellation period is over, with one exception: you made an express request, and for a contract signed at home that request was on a durable medium. In everyday terms, you must ask for the earlier start in a letter or an email.
A verbal yes on the doorstep does not meet the test. Neither does a tick box you were hurried through. If a roofer begins work inside the 14 days without that written request, they may have broken the rules, and your position on payment is stronger as a result.
Think carefully before you ask for an early start. It is your choice, and it can be sensible if water is coming in. If it is not urgent, waiting out the period costs little and keeps your options open. Our own rule is to begin early only when you have asked us in writing. A temporary make-safe on a leaking roof is a separate matter from a full contract.
What you pay if you cancel after work has started
Regulation 36 covers the case where you asked for an early start and then cancel: an amount in proportion to the service already supplied up to the point you told the trader. That is not the full price, and it is not an invented penalty. It reflects the work actually carried out, set against the whole contract.
Suppose a firm has erected scaffold and stripped half of one slope when you cancel. They are entitled to a fair figure for that, which you can discuss, and which should be tied to the work done and the agreed total. They are not entitled to charge the whole contract price for a roof they have barely touched.
Deposits are a related question. If you have paid money up front and cancel within the period without an early-start request, you should expect it back within 14 days of telling the firm. Our page on the roofer deposit looks at how much is reasonable to pay before work starts. Keep every receipt and message, because a clear paper trail settles most disagreements about amounts.
How to cancel properly
Write to the firm using the contact details on the contract. Say that you are cancelling under the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013, name the job and the date you signed, and ask for any deposit to be returned. Send it by email so you have a timestamp, or by recorded post, and keep a copy.
Do not rely on a phone call alone. If the trader disputes that you cancelled, a written note sent inside the period is your evidence. If the firm resists, gently point to the regulations and keep the tone factual, and then speak to Citizens Advice or Trading Standards. If you paid by card, the card company may be able to look at a disputed payment.
Before you sign anything in future, use our roofing quote checklist to see what a proper written quote should contain, and read about doorstep roofers if the first contact was unsolicited.
Comparing the quote before the clock runs down
The cooling off period is useful partly because it gives you time to compare. Use it. Ask another roofer to look at the same roof and write down what they would do. Our roofing costs guide for typical national ranges, remembering that they are not prices for your roof.
If you ask Skyline Swindon Roofing for a price, you get it in writing after a survey, with photographs of the roof itself, plus a 10-year workmanship guarantee on our work. Take your time over it. Changing your mind inside the 14 days is your right, and we would rather you were sure.