Inside six months of purchase, you don't have to prove the fault was there when you bought it. The shop has to prove it wasn't. Most shop assistants have never heard of this rule. It's real, and it's decisive.
When you ask for a repair, replacement, price cut or final rejection within six months, the starting position is that the fault existed at purchase:
", goods which do not conform to the contract at any time within the period of six months beginning with the day on which the goods were delivered to the consumer must be taken not to have conformed to it on that day."
"You must have broken it" is not evidence. If the shop wants to refuse you inside six months, they need something concrete: an engineer's report, signs of misuse, water damage. Otherwise the remedies flow: one repair or replacement attempt, then your money.
After six months the burden flips back to you, and claims stay possible for up to six years in England and Wales (five in Scotland), but the first six months are your strongest ground.
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Check where I stand, free →This guide covers England and Wales; Scottish and Northern Irish rules can differ. This is guidance to help you understand your rights, not formal legal advice, and we're entirely independent: no affiliation with Citizens Advice, GOV.UK or any law firm. Every quotation above links to the official text so you can check us. Law verified current at July 2026.