KEY MEASURES

Protects vulnerable consumers and serves to create a fairer and more competitive credit market by:

• enhancing consumer rights and redress by empowering consumers to challenge unfair lending and through providing more effective options for resolving disputes; 
• improving the regulation of consumer credit businesses by ensuring fair practices and through targeted action to drive out rogues; and 
• focussing regulation and protection on the agreements and borrowers where it is most needed and to create a fairer regime for business.

TERRITORIAL EXTENT

The Bill applies across the UK. Although consumer credit is transferred to Northern Ireland, it has been agreed that the changes to the Consumer Credit Act should extend to Northern Ireland.

COMMENTS

If you have any comments on the proposals you can email them to:

correspond@dti.gsi.gov.uk

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

The Bill is the final stage in the reform package set out in the 2003 White Paper, "Fair, clear and competitive: the consumer credit market in the 21st century".  The Bill was included in the Legislative Programme during the last session of the 2001 Parliament but fell prior to the 2005 General Election.