House of Commons Amendments

Session 2013 - 14
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament

63

House of Commons

Tuesday 4 March 2014

Public Bill Committee

New Amendments handed in are marked thus

Amendments which will comply with the required notice period at their next appearance

Consumer Rights Bill

Note

The Amendments have been arranged in accordance with the Order of the

Committee [11 February 2014].

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

38

Clause  49,  page  30,  line  8,  at end insert—

‘(1A)
In assessing whether the service has been performed with reasonable care and

skill any claim made by the trader as to the outcome the service will achieve must

be taken into consideration.’.

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

46

Clause  49,  page  30,  line  8,  at end insert—

‘(1A)
For the purposes of this Act every contract to supply a service by those traders

who are ring-fenced bodies providing financial services as defined under section

142A (Ring-fenced body) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 shall—

(a)
be subject to a fiduciary duty towards its consumers in the operation of

core services to provide these with reasonable care and skill as well as in

the management of any individual contract to provide services; and

(b)
be subject to a duty of care towards consumers across the financial

services sector.’.

Public Bill Committee: 4 March 2014
64

Consumer Rights Bill, continued

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

47

Clause  49,  page  30,  line  8,  at end insert—

‘(1A)
This requirement shall apply to all activities associated with providing a service

including—

(a)
the management of information held by the trader about the consumer

gained in the course of this contract,

(b)
the communication with the consumer regarding the contract including

activities by the trader designed to induce the consumer to purchase

further goods or services from the trader,

(c)
for the purposes of this Act this shall be taken to include a requirement

for traders to prove they have the direct consent of a consumer to share

information on consumers gathered for the purposes of providing a

service with any third party including, but not limited to, marketing and

communication purposes, and

(d)
the trader will be liable for compensation for any distress caused by such

activity undertaken involving communications with the consumer via

either themselves or a third party without this consent.’.

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

39

Clause  50,  page  30,  line  18,  at end insert—

‘(1A)
Where a trader is selling a service that has restrictions on who can purchase it,

public communications about that service, including promotional material and

any promotional activities shall be required to reflect these restrictions.’.

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

40

Clause  50,  page  30,  line  18,  at end insert—

‘(1B)
Prior to the provision of the service or agreeing the contract, whichever happens

first, the trader will explicitly provide the consumer with relevant details of their

statutory rights under sections 51, 52, 55 and 56 of this Act.’.

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

41

Clause  50,  page  30,  line  18,  at end insert—

‘(1C)
The trader is required to provide full details of the total cost of the service prior

to sale including any additional service fees or charges that could be incurred by

the buyer in purchasing the service.

(1D)
The information set out in subsection (1C) should be portrayed prior to sale and

the explicit consent to purchase the service at this price sought prior to sale.’.

Public Bill Committee: 4 March 2014
65

Consumer Rights Bill, continued

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

42

Clause  50,  page  30,  line  22,  after ‘trader’, insert ‘with equal prominence and’.

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

49

Clause  50,  page  30,  line  31,  at end insert—

‘(4A)
Where the trader seeks to change any of the information set out in subsection (3)

after a contract has been entered into by a consumer, the trader must—

(a)
ensure that if the consumer does not wish to agree to the changes sought,

the consumer is able to terminate the contract without incurring financial

detriment; or

(b)
offer the consumer an alternative contract with a comparable financial

outcome for the consumer of the existing contract.’.

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

50

Clause  51,  page  30,  line  37,  leave out from ‘price’ to end of line 38 and insert ‘for

all elements of the service supplied and the consumer faces ongoing costs or charges for

an element of the service.’.

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

51

Clause  51,  page  31,  line  3,  at end add—

‘(4)
To enable consumers to assess whether the price they are paying for a service is

reasonable, and no more, and with regard to the provisions of section 50(1), the

Secretary of State will—

(a)
under the power set out in section 89 (Supply of customer data) of the

Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 enact regulations to require

all regulated persons to provide customers with data regarding their

personal use of a service,

(b)
specify in a report presented to Parliament within three months of Royal

Assent of this Act which traders operating as a business as defined by

section 2 shall be considered regulated persons including any

government, or local or public authority and therefore identify a relevant

regulatory body to undertake the duties set out in paragraph (c),

(c)
having regard to the powers set out in section 89(8) of the Enterprise and

Regulatory Reform Act, require regulators of services provided by

regulated persons to submit a report within three months of Royal Assent

of this Act on guidance to include—

(i)
the provision of such data in a format which enables the

consumer to assess whether the price they are paying for a

service is reasonable including but not limited to the description

set out in section 89(7) of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform

Act 2013,

(ii)
the provision of guidance that can enable third parties to make a

request for this information with the consent of the consumer

Public Bill Committee: 4 March 2014
66

Consumer Rights Bill, continued

including measures to limit the total charge that can be applied

for any such single request for data on behalf of multiple

consumers,

(iii)
requirements for those who hold data on consumers on behalf of

any government, local or public authority to seek to use this

information to secure social and consumer benefits for its

application as directed by the Information Commissioner,

(iv)
requirements for all regulated persons to recognise that primacy

of ownership of any data generated directly in the course of a

contract with a consumer at any point in its execution lies with

the consumer and as such any decision requiring the

transmission of this data in a format where the consumer can be

identified to a third party by the trader must secure the direct

consent of the consumer,

(v)
requirements for all regulated persons to make available upon

request to a regulatory body information pertaining to their

management of non personal data collected in the course of

interactions with consumers by traders for the purposes of

enabling regulatory bodies to assess whether the rights of

consumers to a reasonable price for a service have been

infringed,

(vi)
guidance for the trader to clarify their ongoing responsibility for

the security and accuracy of data held on consumers whether the

consumer continues to maintain a contract with the trader or not,

and

(vii)
guidance for all regulated persons on ways to make publicly

available information about how consumers may exercise their

right to access data for the purposes of being able to make

decisions on contracts for services.’.

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

52

Clause  51,  page  31,  line  3,  at end add—

‘(4)
Where the consumer is required to pay for a service via a third party as part of

another contract, for the purposes of assessing whether the charges they are

required to pay are reasonable they will have a right to the full details of any

contract including all charges and costs to which they are contributing.

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

53

Clause  51,  page  31,  line  3,  at end add—

‘(4)
Where the consumer is being supplied a financial service, the consumer shall be

provided with such information as shall enable them to know the risks that were

taken into account in calculating the applicable premium and the profit that

either—

(a)
the financial services company, or

(b)
financial broker anticipates to make on that premium if there is no claim

on the policy.’.

Public Bill Committee: 4 March 2014
67

Consumer Rights Bill, continued

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

54

Clause  51,  page  31,  line  3,  at end add—

‘(4)
Where the service provided is for an additional assistance service, a reasonable

price will be one which is judged by reference to the guidance set out by the

original provider of the service who has approved the provision of such an

additional service including specifying a range of costs for its provision which

can be considered reasonable.

(5)
An “additional assistance” service for the purposes of this Act is to be considered

any service assisting a consumer to use the original service that does not alter the

original service provider’s intent in operating this service.’.

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

55

Clause  52,  page  31,  line  12,  at end insert—

‘(3A)
For the purposes of this Act, where the service provides assistance to the

consumer for what can reasonably be considered serious loss of—

(a)
livelihood,

(b)
primary living accommodation, or

(c)
household earnings


and such a service would be considered their primary redress for such a loss, the

impact of any delay in provision of this service on their quality of life can be taken

into account in determining what timeframe is considered reasonable.

(3B)
Considerations under subsection (3A) do not affect the right of consumers to seek

other remedies for a breach of contract at a later date regarding delay in provision

of compensation.’.

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

56

Clause  54,  page  31,  line  30,  at end insert—

‘(2A)
The trader shall provide the consumer with full details of their relevant statutory

rights under a services contract before the point at which the consumer seeks to

challenge whether these rights have been met. This shall be done within an

appropriate, retainable format and within a reasonable time of contact with the

trader for this purpose to enable the consumer to exercise their rights.’.

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

57

Clause  54,  page  31,  line  34,  at end insert—

‘(3A)
Where the conduct of the service can be reasonably considered to lead to a risk to

the personal safety of the consumer, the consumer has a right to—

(a)
a full refund of the cost of the contract, and

(b)
any additional fees associated with the service.

Public Bill Committee: 4 March 2014
68

Consumer Rights Bill, continued

(3B)
Any action taken under subsection (3A) will not prevent the consumer from

seeking other remedies or further compensation for the consequences of this

installation.’.

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

58

Clause  54,  page  32,  line  6,  at end insert—

‘(6A)
In seeking to enquire about the terms of their contract, possible breaches of their

statutory rights or enforce terms about service, a trader cannot charge the

consumer for seeking to communicate with them.’.

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

59

Clause  55,  page  32,  line  19,  at end insert—

‘(1A)
Where the quality of provision of services has been deemed to be hazardous or so

poor as to cause the consumer to reasonably lose confidence in the trader’s ability

to provide services which they would wish to purchase, the consumer may refuse

a repeat performance and exercise their right to price reduction under section 56.’.

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

62

Clause  56,  page  32,  line  34,  at end insert—

‘(1A)
When considering what is an appropriate amount for the purpose of this section,

consideration shall be given to reasonable steps that will return the consumer to

the position they would be in if the trader had not breached the contract in the first

place.’.

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

61

Clause  56,  page  32,  line  36,  at end insert—

‘(2A)
The consumer is entitled to this refund within 30 days of agreeing that a refund is

to be paid using the same payment method used in the original transfer.

(2B)
Where the trader fails to ensure this refund is provided within this timeframe the

consumer is entitled to seek damages from the trader commensurate with the

impact of any loss caused by this delay unless the consumer has decided to waive

this right to a refund within this timeframe.’.

Public Bill Committee: 4 March 2014
69

Consumer Rights Bill, continued

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

60

Clause  56,  page  32,  line  43,  at end insert—

‘(c)
the consumer has exercised their right under section 55(1A).’.

Jenny Willott

44

Schedule  1,  page  49,  line  30,  at end insert—

‘Consequential repeal and revocation

55
In consequence of the amendments made by this Schedule—

(a)
omit paragraph 5(9) of Schedule 2 to the Sale and Supply of Goods

Act 1994, and

(b)
omit paragraph 97 of Schedule 2 to the Consumer Protection from

Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/1277).’.

Member’s explanatory statement

This amendment repeals or revokes provisions which are redundant because they amend provi

sions which are in turn repealed by Schedule 1 to the Bill.

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

63

Clause  62,  page  35,  line  32,  at end insert—

‘(2A)
For the purposes of this Act, consumer notices are considered to be any

information or requirements about the contract conveyed to the consumer before

or during the commissioning of the contract by the trader which may reasonably

be considered designed to influence the behaviour of the consumer.’.

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

70

Clause  63,  page  36,  line  25,  at end insert—

‘(1A)
Where a contract includes a term which is included in either Part 1 or Part 2 of

Schedule 2 of this Act, the trader must draw to the attention of the consumer these

terms and their rights to challenge these under this legislation prior to purchase.’.



© Parliamentary copyright	Revised 4 March 2014