Some pram retailers offer to spread the cost in instalments, and one form of this is hire purchase: the buyer pays by instalments and does not own the item until the agreement has been paid off. Two sources, read on 1 November 2026, answer it: the Citizens Advice page on cancelling something bought on hire purchase (the England version, undated) and sections 99 and 100 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 as published on legislation.gov.uk. Neither source mentions prams, so this is general information on hire purchase applied to a pushchair purchase, not legal advice.
What Citizens Advice means by hire purchase
Citizens Advice describes hire purchase as a type of borrowing where the buyer agrees to pay instalments on an item but does not own it until the agreement is paid off. It adds that if the agreement says the buyer must buy the item at the end of the period, this is called a conditional sale. Its page says hire purchase is often used for cars, furniture or white goods.
Buy now pay later is a separate subject, covered in the guide to buying a pram with buy now pay later. Paying by card has its own protections, set out in the guide to Section 75 and chargeback.
The first 14 days
Citizens Advice says there are very limited circumstances in which the item can be returned for a full refund. The buyer must have signed up within the last 14 days, and in one of four ways: online, by phone, in the buyer’s home or by mail order. In that case the buyer is within a cooling-off period and can cancel without charge by contacting the company.
Ending the agreement later
Outside the cooling-off period, Citizens Advice says an item being paid off through hire purchase can be cancelled and returned at any time, but money may still be owed to the company it was bought from.
Section 99(1) of the 1974 Act gives the legal footing. It says that at any time before the final payment falls due under a regulated hire-purchase or regulated conditional sale agreement, the debtor is entitled to terminate the agreement by giving notice to any person entitled or authorised to receive the sums payable. Section 99(2) says that ending the agreement does not affect any liability under it that accrued before termination. The wording refers to regulated agreements, and neither source says whether a particular retailer’s pram finance is one, so the agreement itself is the place to check.
The “half” rule and how the two sources word it
Citizens Advice puts the rule in plain terms. If less than half of the item has been paid off, the buyer legally only has to pay half the cost of the item minus what has already been paid in instalments. If half or more has been paid off, the buyer legally does not have to pay any more.
Section 100(1) is worded more precisely. Unless the agreement provides for a smaller payment, or for no payment, the debtor is liable to pay the amount, if any, by which one-half of the total price exceeds the aggregate of the sums paid and the sums due in respect of the total price immediately before the termination. The Act counts instalments already due as well as those paid, a detail Citizens Advice’s summary does not spell out.
Illustration only, with invented figures: take a pram on finance with a total price of £600 and £100 paid or due when the agreement ends. Half of the total price is £300, so the amount at stake under section 100(1) would be £200, unless the agreement provides for a smaller sum. If £300 or more had been paid or due, the formula would leave nothing further to pay. This is arithmetic on the section’s wording, not a quote from either source.
Three further wrinkles in section 100
- Section 100(3) lets a court order a smaller sum in place of the section 100(1) amount if it is satisfied that a lower sum would equal the creditor’s loss from the termination.
- Section 100(4) increases the amount if the debtor has contravened an obligation to take reasonable care of the goods.
- Section 100(5) deals with a debtor who wrongfully keeps the goods after termination. In a creditor’s action to recover them, the court, unless it is satisfied that it would not be just in the circumstances, shall order delivery to the creditor without giving the debtor an option to pay the value of the goods.
If payments are being missed
Citizens Advice says a buyer who is struggling should speak to the organisations owed money, which might allow smaller payments or a break, and should not ignore bills or letters. It says a buyer who has missed payments but wants to keep the item should contact the company and ask for a repayment plan, which would mean paying smaller amounts over a longer period. It also says the finance company should keep the buyer up to date about its plans for repossessing the goods, and that a buyer who feels it has not done so can complain to an ombudsman. For disputes about how much is owed, it points to the Citizens Advice consumer service.
The bottom line
Citizens Advice and the Consumer Credit Act 1974 both say a hire purchase agreement can be ended before the final payment, and both tie what may be owed to half of the total price. Citizens Advice describes the first 14 days as a cooling-off period for agreements signed online, by phone, at home or by mail order. Section 100 adds that the agreement can provide for a smaller payment, that a court can order a lower sum, and that failing to take reasonable care of the goods can increase the amount. Neither page says whether a particular pram finance deal is a regulated agreement.
Sources
- Cancel something you bought on hire purchase, Citizens Advice (England version), page undated, read 1 November 2026 (citizensadvice.org.uk)
- Consumer Credit Act 1974, section 99, Right to terminate hire-purchase etc. agreements, up to date with changes known to be in force on or before 30 October 2026, read 1 November 2026 (legislation.gov.uk)
- Consumer Credit Act 1974, section 100, Liability of debtor on termination of hire-purchase etc. agreement, up to date with changes known to be in force on or before 1 November 2026, read 1 November 2026 (legislation.gov.uk)