§ 23. What happens legally when you withdraw
When you use the right of withdrawal (angrerett), the entire contract ceases to apply. You must send the item back (§ 25) and the seller must pay the money back (§ 24). If you have only made an offer but have not yet received acceptance, the offer lapses.
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)
When the right of withdrawal is exercised, the parties' obligations to perform the contract lapse. In cases where the consumer (forbruker) has made an offer, the offer lapses.
What does this mean?
§ 23 is short, but important. It sets out the actual consequence of withdrawing.
The contract is cancelled. When you use the right of withdrawal, the contract between you and the seller comes to an end. It is as if you never entered into it. It is not a notice of termination (oppsigelse) for the future — it is a cancellation of the entire contractual relationship.
Both parties' obligations lapse. The seller no longer has to deliver anything more. You no longer have to pay anything more. What you have already done must be reversed: you send the item back, and the seller pays the money back.
If you had only made an offer. Sometimes you have not yet entered into the contract itself — you have only made an offer that the seller has not yet formally accepted. In that case, you withdraw your offer. The seller cannot "accept" it later.
The details of how the settlement is to take place in practice are in § 24 (the seller's obligations) and § 25 (your obligations). If there were ancillary contracts (tilknyttede avtaler) — for example, mobile phone insurance linked to a phone purchase — they also lapse (§ 27).
Examples
Anne buys a chair from an online shop for NOK 2,400. After 10 days she decides to withdraw. She sends the notice of withdrawal (angremelding). Under § 23, the contract is dissolved. Anne no longer has an obligation to keep the chair, and the seller no longer has a claim to the money. The result: she packs the chair and sends it back (§ 25), and the seller pays back the full amount (§ 24).
Lars has gone to a website and submitted an offer for a special item that requires the seller's approval. The seller has not yet replied when Lars changes his mind. Under § 23, second sentence, his offer lapses. The seller cannot now turn up three days later and say "we accept the offer, you must pay". Lars is free.
Common mistakes
- You think withdrawing means "termination for the future". It does not. The contract is cancelled entirely — not just from a certain point onwards.
- You think the seller can claim "damages" because you withdrew. They cannot. The right of withdrawal is a statutory right you have — not a breach of contract. You owe nothing just because you used it.
- You keep using the item after you have withdrawn. You should not. Once you have sent the notice of withdrawal, you must handle the item carefully and send it back. Continued use can give the seller a claim for loss of value (verdireduksjon) (§ 25, third paragraph).
What should you do?
Once you have withdrawn:
- § 20How to use the right of withdrawal
- § 24The seller's obligations when you withdraw
- § 25Your obligations when you withdraw
- § 27What happens to ancillary contracts