§ 2. When the Act does not apply
Even if you bought something online or outside a shop, you do not always have a right of withdrawal (angrerett). The Act has ten exceptions, including buying a home, package holidays (pakkereiser), train tickets, insurance, purchases under NOK 300 at a stand, and gambling (pengespill).
Machine-translated from Norwegian. The Norwegian text is the one that applies. Read the original in Norwegian.Norsk English العربية Polski Українська
The text of the law (unofficial translation)
The Act does not apply to: a. contracts for the sale of goods and services from vending machines and automated business premises, b. contracts for the sale or construction of real estate (fast eiendom) and contracts concerning rights in real estate, with the exception of rental. The sale of real estate also includes the sale of title documents with an associated tenancy right or right of residence in a dwelling, c. contracts covered by the Act on timeshare and long-term holiday product contracts etc. (the Timeshare Act (tidspartloven)), d. contracts for package holidays, cf. the Package Travel Act (pakkereiseloven) § 6, e. contracts for passenger transport (persontransport) services. The requirements in § 16 nevertheless apply, f. contracts covered by the Financial Contracts Act (finansavtaleloven) and the Insurance Contracts Act (forsikringsavtaleloven), g. contracts for the sale of goods and services outside business premises (faste forretningslokaler) where the total contract sum, including shipping and additional costs (tilleggskostnader) to be paid by the consumer (forbruker), is NOK 300 or less, h. contracts concluded with an electronic communications provider through public payphones for the use of these, or concluded for the use of a single telephone, Internet or fax connection established by a consumer, i. contracts for gambling, j. contracts for the sale of goods sold at a forced sale (tvangsauksjon) or otherwise by compulsion pursuant to law.
What does this mean?
§ 2 lists ten types of purchase that are exempt from the Right of Withdrawal Act. This means you have no statutory right of withdrawal — even if the purchase took place online or outside a shop. Let us go through them:
a) Vending machines and automated shops. If you buy a Coca-Cola from a machine, or shop in an unstaffed 24/7 store, the Act does not apply.
b) Real estate. Buying a house, cabin or flat is exempt. This also applies to rights of residence and tenancy rights in housing cooperatives (the so-called "title documents"). Ordinary rental, however, is not exempt.
c) Timeshares and long-term holiday products. This is the somewhat outdated idea of a "timeshare" (tidspart) in a holiday home. These are covered by the Timeshare Act, which has its own rules.
d) Package holidays. Trips that include, for example, both flights and a hotel, and that are sold together as a package, have their own rules in the Package Travel Act.
e) Passenger transport. Train, plane, bus and ferry tickets are exempt. But some duties to provide information (opplysningsplikt) (under § 16) still apply.
f) Financial services. Loans, banking services, credit, insurance and payment services follow the Financial Contracts Act or the Insurance Contracts Act instead. These have their own, and often better, withdrawal rules.
g) Small purchases under NOK 300 outside a shop. If a seller comes to your home or you buy at a stand, and the whole purchase (including shipping) is NOK 300 or less, the Act does not apply.
h) Use of payphones and single connections. Very rare in practice. Applies, for example, if you call from a public payphone and pay for the call.
i) Gambling. Tipping, Lotto, Eurojackpot and similar.
j) Forced sales. Goods sold at a forced sale, for example when someone loses their belongings to the enforcement officer (namsmannen).
Examples
Petter falls in love with a cabin he sees on Finn. The estate agent sends him a bidding form, and he bids NOK 3.2 million by email. His bid is accepted. After two days he regrets it and wonders whether he can withdraw. He cannot. Buying real estate is exempt under § 2 letter b. Even though the whole process took place digitally, the Right of Withdrawal Act does not apply. Petter must keep his promise — or negotiate with the seller.
Sara books a charter trip to Greece online — flight and hotel in one package for NOK 18,000. She regrets it the next day. She has no right of withdrawal under the Right of Withdrawal Act, because package holidays are exempt under letter d. She must check the Package Travel Act and the tour operator's terms.
Common mistakes
- You think "all online purchases" come with a right of withdrawal. That is not true. Package holidays, train tickets, insurance and cabin purchases do not — even if the purchase took place online.
- You think the "NOK 300 rule" applies to online shopping. It does not. The exception only applies to purchases outside business premises — that is, home visits and stands. Online, you have a right of withdrawal regardless of price.
- You confuse exceptions from the Right of Withdrawal Act with "no rights". Even if the Right of Withdrawal Act does not apply, you still have rights under other laws — for example the Financial Contracts Act (loans) or the Insurance Contracts Act (insurance), which often give their own withdrawal periods (angrefrister).
What should you do?
Before you buy something online or outside a shop: check whether your item is on the list of exceptions. If it is, you need to find out which other law applies. For travel: the Package Travel Act. For insurance and loans: the Financial Contracts Act or the Insurance Contracts Act. For gambling: no right of withdrawal at all.