What is a letter before action?

A letter before action (LBA) is a formal notice sent before starting court proceedings. It sets out your claim, the legal basis (e.g. Consumer Rights Act 2015, Housing Act 1988), the remedy you seek, and a deadline to respond — typically 14 days. Civil Procedure Rules require this step before most court claims, and courts take a dim view of parties who skip it.

Can I write my own legal letter?

Yes. You do not need a solicitor to write a legal letter. What matters is citing the correct legislation, stating your claim with precise dates and amounts, and giving a clear deadline. A well-drafted letter citing the right Act and section often resolves disputes without court proceedings — and costs nothing extra to send.

Does a legal letter actually work?

In many cases, yes. Most businesses, landlords, and employers respond when they receive a formally worded letter that cites specific legislation and mentions court or tribunal proceedings as the next step. It signals you know your rights and are prepared to escalate — which is often enough to get a resolution.

What UK legislation covers consumer complaints and refunds?

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 is the primary law. Section 9 requires goods to be of satisfactory quality; section 20 gives you the right to a full refund within 30 days if goods are faulty. For services, section 49 requires reasonable care and skill. For distance/online purchases, the Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013 give you a 14-day cooling-off period.

2 September 2026

Event Cancelled, Rescheduled or Sold a Fake Ticket? How to Get Your Money Back (UK)

You bought tickets to a concert, gig, festival or match — and then it was called off, moved to a date you cannot make, or turned out to be a listing on a resale site that leaves you unsure of your rights. The good news: when an event is cancelled you are almost always entitled to your money back, and a “no refunds” sign does not change that. The rules for a rescheduled event, for resale tickets, and for outright scams are all different — and getting them muddled is what costs people money. Here is how each one actually works.

General information for the UK. Not legal advice. Current as at September 2026 — the law on ticket resale in particular is under active reform, so always check the current position before you act.

The one thing to get right first: your refund normally comes from whoever you actually paid — the box office, the ticket agent or the resale platform — not necessarily the promoter or the artist. So the letter goes to the seller on your booking confirmation. And “cancelled” and “rescheduled” are treated completely differently: a cancelled event is a strong refund right; a rescheduled one usually leaves your ticket valid for the new date.

If the event is cancelled

When an event is called off entirely, you paid for something you are never going to receive. That is a straightforward breach of contract, and under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 a service that is never performed entitles you to your money back. Crucially, a blanket “no refunds” term printed on the ticket or buried in the terms is likely to be an unfair term under the same Act and unenforceable when the event simply does not happen — a trader cannot keep your money for a show that never took place.

Who owes you: the seller you paid — box office, agent or platform. Chase them, not the venue or band (unless you bought direct from them).
How much: at a minimum the face value of the ticket. Whether you also get back the booking and service fees is genuinely inconsistent across the industry — the ticket-agents’ own code (STAR) only commits members to refund at least face value, though there is a good argument under the Consumer Rights Act that a service you never received should be refunded in full. Ask for everything you paid, and treat fee-inclusion as something to push for rather than assume.
How quickly: there is no ticket-specific statutory deadline, but a refund “without undue delay” is the general standard, and 14 days is the figure most often cited. If a seller drags it out for weeks, that is your cue to escalate (see chargeback and Section 75 below).

Bought as a package? If your festival or event ticket was sold together with accommodation or travel by a single trader, the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 may apply on top — and those give you a full refund no later than 14 days after the package is cancelled. Worth flagging if you booked a “ticket + hotel” or “ticket + coach” deal.

If it is rescheduled or postponed

This is where people get caught out. When an event is moved rather than cancelled, there is generally no automatic right to a refund — your ticket normally stays valid for the new date, and that is treated as the organiser honouring the contract. You can usually still get your money back, but you have to make the case:

You genuinely cannot attend the new date; or
The change is material — a different venue, a very different date, or a headline act or line-up that has changed from what you were sold.

These arguments run on the Consumer Rights Act’s fairness principles and on regulator guidance rather than a single hard-and-fast statutory rule, so the practical move is to ask promptly, in writing, and point to why the rescheduled event is not what you paid for. Organisers should give a reasonable window to choose a refund instead of the new date — do not assume silence means you have missed the boat.

Your rights buying resale tickets

If you bought from a resale site — viagogo, StubHub, an eBay listing — the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (sections 90 and 91) gives you specific protections that many buyers never realise they have. Before you are committed to buy, the reseller must clearly tell you:

The face value printed on the original ticket (so you can see the mark-up);
The exact seat or standing location — block, row, seat number and any unique ticket reference that identifies it;
Any restrictions on who can use the ticket; and
Any connection the seller has to the event organiser or the platform (for example if they are the platform, the organiser, or an employee).

Section 91 also stops an organiser cancelling a resold ticket or blacklisting a reseller purely because the ticket was resold through a secondary site — unless the original sale contract had a term allowing it and that term is fair. If a listing hides the face value or the seat details, that is a breach you can complain about to the platform and to Trading Standards, and it is grounds to push for a refund.

An important caveat: section 91 protecting a ticket from being cancelled for being resold is not the same as a guarantee you will get in. If the original ticket terms banned transfer altogether, or the ticket is personalised / named to the first buyer, a venue may still refuse entry. Check whether the ticket was even transferable before you buy on the secondary market.

The “price cap” myth — there is no cap yet

Despite heavy news coverage, as of September 2026 there is no legal cap on ticket resale prices in the UK. The Government ran a consultation in 2025 and announced a draft Ticket Tout Ban Bill (and a separate bill to criminalise resale of major sporting-event tickets) in the May 2026 King’s Speech — but these are still at the draft / pre-legislative stage and have not become law. The only resale rules actually in force today are the information duties above and a 2018 criminal offence for using bots to bulk-buy tickets beyond the purchase limit. So reselling above face value is not currently illegal in itself — do not let anyone tell you otherwise, in either direction.

If the seller will not pay — or has gone bust

If a seller refuses a refund you are clearly owed, ignores you, or ceases trading before paying out, your card gives you two powerful fallback routes:

Section 75 (Consumer Credit Act 1974): if you paid by credit card and the ticket cost between £100 and £30,000, the card provider is equally liable with the seller for the breach — including if the seller goes into administration. It even applies if you only put part of the cost (say a deposit) on the credit card. This is the strongest route.
Chargeback (Visa / Mastercard scheme rules): available on debit or credit cards, for any amount, so it covers the sub-£100 purchases and debit payments Section 75 does not. Raise it with your bank, generally within about 120 days of the problem coming to light — ideal when the event was cancelled and the seller has vanished or will not refund.

One trap: paying through PayPal or another third-party processor can break the direct link Section 75 needs, so on those payments chargeback (or PayPal’s own buyer protection) is usually the route.

If you were sold a fake ticket

Ticket fraud is huge — around £9.7 million was lost to it in the UK in 2024 — and most of it starts with a too-good-to-be-true listing on social media or a convincing fake site. What you can recover depends on how you paid:

Paid by card: use chargeback, or Section 75 if it was a credit card and £100+. Card payments give you the best chance of getting the money back.
Paid by bank transfer (tricked into sending money to a fraudster): you are covered by the mandatory reimbursement rules in force since 7 October 2024. Your bank must reimburse you — usually within 5 business days, up to a cap of £85,000 — unless you were grossly negligent. Report it to your bank immediately and to Action Fraud (0300 123 2040).

Traps and myths to ignore:

“No refunds” terms do not override your statutory rights when an event is cancelled.
“Full refund” often means face value only in practice — check the seller’s policy and push for your fees back.
A “ticket protection” or refund add-on sold at checkout is optional insurance, not a statutory right — read what it actually covers.
Rescheduled is not automatically refundable — you usually have to show you cannot attend or the event materially changed.

Getting the letter right

Whether you are demanding a refund for a cancelled show, making the case that a rescheduled event is not what you paid for, complaining about a resale listing that hid the face value, or putting a seller on notice before you go to chargeback, a clear written letter is what turns a “sorry, no refunds” brush-off into a formal request the seller has to deal with. A good letter states exactly what you paid and for what, the legal basis (the Consumer Rights Act, the cancellation, the resale disclosure duties), what you want and by when, and it gives you the paper trail you will need if you escalate to your bank or Trading Standards.

Generate Your Ticket Refund Letter in Seconds

WriteMyLegalLetter drafts a clear, firm letter to the ticket seller, agent or resale platform — to demand a refund for a cancelled or materially-changed event, challenge a resale listing, or put them on notice before a chargeback. Answer a few questions and your letter is ready to send.

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The core refund rights (Consumer Rights Act 2015, including the secondary-ticketing duties in sections 90–91) apply across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The 2018 offence for using bots to bulk-buy tickets is UK-wide, though the maximum fine differs (unlimited in England & Wales, capped at £50,000 in Scotland). The mandatory bank-transfer (APP) fraud reimbursement scheme applies UK-wide. Sources: Consumer Rights Act 2015; Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018; Breaching of Limits on Ticket Sales Regulations 2018; Consumer Credit Act 1974 s.75; Visa/Mastercard chargeback scheme rules; Payment Systems Regulator APP reimbursement rules; CMA; STAR; Citizens Advice; Action Fraud. Current as at September 2026 — ticket-resale reform is ongoing. General information, not legal advice — check the current position before you act.