Legal briefing | 15 Apr 2026 |

Consumer law: £4.2m fine on AA shows CMA means business

In its first infringement decision under the UK's new consumer enforcement regime, the Competition and Markets Authority has fined the AA £4.2 million and required it to repay over £700K to consumers. This is just the latest in a series of developments indicating that B2C businesses in the UK face a much tougher regulatory environment than in the past. We explain why it's essential to take this threat seriously and what consumer-facing businesses can do to reduce their risk.

What happened with the AA?

In November 2025, the CMA announced formal investigations into 8 businesses, including the AA's driving school business (which also trades under the BSM name). The key concern in the AA's case was that, when booking driving lessons online, new customers were shown prices that omitted a mandatory booking fee. This was only added on at checkout, once consumers had selected times/dates and entered their personal details. As the CMA's press release puts it: "[t]his practice is illegal – businesses must show customers the total price from the outset".

Having admitted the infringement and agreed to early settlement, the CMA agreed to reduce the AA's fine by 40% - but the resulting amount is still significant, particularly when account is taken of the AA's commitment to repay over £760,000 to consumers (which it has agreed to refund via their payment cards or send them a cheque; there will be no need for customers to lodge a claim). The total cost is likely to be higher still because of the work involved in administering the refunds (and satisfying the CMA that this work has been carried out properly).

Part of a wider trend

In the past, CMA consumer investigations were typically resolved by non-binding undertakings which did not include any sanction for past misconduct. However, the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA) - which came into force in April 2025 - has given the CMA much tougher powers to enforce consumer law, including the ability to impose fines of up to 10% of turnover for infringements and require businesses to provide redress to affected consumers. Although this is the first decision under the new regime to include a finding that consumer law has been infringed, the CMA's tough approach is also reflected in the following developments:

The £473K fine imposed on Euro Car Parks for failing to respond to a CMA information notice relating to a consumer investigation;
The opening of a raft of formal investigations under the new DMCCA consumer enforcement regime. Since the first announcement of 8 investigations in November 2025, the total now stands at 13; sectors covered range from gyms and homeware through to software and practices under scrutiny include pricing, contract terms and online reviews;
The CMA has also written to over 100 businesses drawing attention to practices which it considers likely to breach consumer law – effectively putting them on notice that they too could find themselves being formally investigated unless they change their approach.

What are the key lessons for B2C businesses?

First and foremost, don't underestimate the risk – particularly the potential financial hit. Whilst attention has tended to focus on the CMA's significant fining powers, (see section 7 of this CMA guidance), the AA decision clearly demonstrates the regulator's interest in delivering consumer redress. In the AA case, it so happens that the amount involved is lower than the fine – but it's not difficult to conceive of scenarios where the amounts that would need to be repaid are far higher, even where the refunds per individual consumer are relatively low. For example:

If your business has 500,000 customers, each of which has to be repaid £20, the bill will be £10 million – well above the £4.2 million fine levied on the AA.
Energy regulator Ofgem has long had sectoral powers both to fine regulated businesses and require payment of redress; over the past 6 years, the level of fines - £30 million - is dwarfed by the £460 million that the regulator has required firms to pay in compensation to consumers.

Secondly, if you've not done so already, assess where your business is most exposed to this risk – and implement a mitigation strategy.

Key questions to ask

Are any of our activities in a higher risk category? (for more detail on this, see section 3 of our briefing explaining the impact of the DMCCA)
Are we sitting on any "ticking time bombs" in terms of our existing practices and processes involving consumers?
Are our existing processes (e.g. customer sign-up) likely to remain compliant and if not, how easy would it be to upgrade them to e.g. meet the new rules in the DMCCA on subscription contracts or misleading/fake reviews?
Are relevant staff – particularly those in sales roles – aware of the risks that infringing consumer law poses to the business? Do staff need a refresher on what types of behaviour or practices are likely to be problematic?
Do we have a plan for how we would respond if investigated by the CMA for breaches of consumer law? As shown by the fine on Euro Car Parks, failure to provide the CMA with accurate or complete information can result in penalties – even where there's not yet any finding of substantive infringement.

How we can help

We can help you to manage the risk posed by the UK's tough new consumer enforcement regime. Whether it's advising on how to design an effective compliance programme, carrying out "legal mystery shopper" exercises or providing engaging and effective training, we can help you to:

ensure your business is legally compliant and insulated from the most punitive aspects of the new regime; and
equip you with strategies for anticipating and managing CMA interventions.

We can also help you understand how the consumer law aspects of the DMCC Act interact with its other provisions and other legislation – and how you can use the regulatory framework to gain competitive advantage. To find out more, please speak to any of the contacts listed below.

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