I bought a shelving unit online and have received a letter saying I have to pay customs duty as the goods are being shipped from China. I had no idea this was not a UK seller – what are my rights?

R.H., via email.

Dean Dunham replies: As a general rule, you must pay excise duty on goods purchased from outside the UK if they are worth more than £135, and this is collected via the company delivering the goods to you. This is one reason why it is so important to know who you are buying from and where they are based.

A new consumer law called the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act – known as the DMCC – particularly focuses on ensuring that traders’ actions do not harm UK consumers.

It does this by banning certain practices, such as the use of fake reviews and placing a list of positive obligations on traders.

One important element of this is transparency. The trader has an obligation to tell consumers of ‘material information’, which is defined as the information that the average consumer needs to make an informed decision about the transaction.

There is also a specific obligation to inform consumers of the trader’s trading location and to list all charges that may apply to the purchase.

Thankfully, Chinese traders selling to UK consumers do not escape this law.

Your next step is therefore to contact the Chinese trader and tell them they have breached the DMCC by failing to disclose their true trading location and failing to be transparent about the true cost of the goods. You will then be entitled to demand either a refund of the £135 or to reject the goods and receive a full refund. If you opt for the latter, in circumstances where you are returning the goods due to a breach of the law (as opposed to simply because you have changed your mind), the shipping costs associated with returning the goods fall on the trader, not you.

Unfortunately, Chinese traders are notorious for ignoring consumer complaints or dismissing them. If this happens, turn to your card provider and make a chargeback claim if you paid by debit card or, if you paid by credit card, you can raise either a chargeback or Section 75 claim.

My brother-in-law is claiming that a £1,200 loan I gave him was actually a wedding gift that he does not have to repay. Is he right?

T.W., via email.

Dean Dunham replies: There is a presumption under English law that there are no legal relations between family.

In other words, in your case, the law will assume that this money was indeed a gift unless you can prove otherwise.

This is why it is so important to set out the details of any loan in writing, recording that the money is being advanced as a loan and the key terms, such as the amount of any interest to be paid on the loan and the repayment terms.

As with neighbour disputes, I always advise that you do all you can to resolve the matter amicably, as falling out with family members is obviously not desirable. Perhaps try to reach a compromise by agreeing a payment plan and/or accepting a reduced amount, but in doing so you will want to get this agreement in writing.

Unfortunately, if this doesn’t work, your only option will be to issue a claim in the small claims court.

However, before you take this step, you need to get your house in order by gathering all relevant information and evidence.

Most importantly, as you are claiming this is a loan and not a gift, you will need to produce evidence to substantiate this – without it you will not convince a judge.

The best evidence would obviously be a written agreement, but if you do not have this, you will have to think outside the box.

Consider if you exchanged any written communications (emails, texts, etc.) and if you did, do they state or suggest this was a loan, not a gift? Were there any witnesses present when you discussed the loan and if so, will they be willing to speak on your behalf in court to confirm this?

If you are able to gather enough evidence, you can issue your claim online – find details by typing ‘money claim online’ into a search engine.

• Write to Dean Dunham, Money Mail, 9 Derry Street, London, W8 5HY or email [email protected]. No legal responsibility can be accepted by the Daily Mail for answers given