House of Commons Amendments

Session 2013 - 14
Internet Publications
Other Bills before Parliament

Public Bill Committee: 25 February 2014
30

Consumer Rights Bill, continued

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

traders who are ring-fenced bodies providing financial servies as defined under

section 142 of the Financial Services Banking Reform Act 2013 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.’.

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

activites by the trader designed to induce the consumer to purchase

further goods or services from the trader,

(c)
for the purposes of this legislation 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—

Public Bill Committee: 25 February 2014
31

Consumer Rights Bill, continued

‘(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.’.

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

42

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

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

43

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

‘(4A)
Where the trader seeks to change any of the information mentioned 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 for the same service with a

comparable financial outcome for the consumer of the existing contract.’.

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 paragraph (b) and insert—

‘(b)
the contract does not expressly fix a price 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 insert—

‘(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 Clause 50, section

1, the Secretary of State will—

Public Bill Committee: 25 February 2014
32

Consumer Rights Bill, continued

(a)
under the power set out in section 89 of the Enterprise Regulatory

Reform Act 2013 enact regulations to require all regulated persons to

provide customers with data regarding their personal use of a service,

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

this legislation being enacted which traders operating as a business as

defined by Clause 2 of this legislation 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 section (c),

(c)
having regard to the powers of the Secretary of State under subsection (8)

of Clause 89 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act that within

three months of this legislation being enacted require Regulators of

services provided by regulated persons will report to them on guidance to

cover the following requirements for this purpose including—

(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 (7) of Clause 89 of the Enterprise 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

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

enfringed,

(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 how to make publicly

available how consumers may exercise their right to access this

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 insert—

Public Bill Committee: 25 February 2014
33

Consumer Rights Bill, continued

‘(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 insert—

‘(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 the

financial services company and/or financial broker anticipates to make on that

premium if there is no claim on the policy.’.

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

54


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

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

price will be one which is judged by reference to—

(a)
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,

(b)
an additional assistance service for the purposes of this legislation 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.’.

Public Bill Committee: 25 February 2014
34

Consumer Rights Bill, continued

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

56


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

‘( )
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—

‘(c)
where the conduct of the service leader can be reasonably considered to

lead to a risk to the personal safety of the consumer, the consumer has a

right to—

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

(ii)
any additional fees associated with the service.


Any action taken under this subsection 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—

‘( )
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—

‘( )
When considering what is an “appropriate amount” for the purpose of this

section, consideration shall be given to reasonable steps that will return the

Public Bill Committee: 25 February 2014
35

Consumer Rights Bill, continued

consumer to the position they would now 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—


‘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. 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.’.

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—

‘( )
For the purposes of this Act, consumer notices are considered 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.’.

Public Bill Committee: 25 February 2014
36

Consumer Rights Bill, continued

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

70


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

‘( )
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.’.

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

66


Schedule  2,  page  51,  line  11,  at end insert—


‘A term (including those within the scope of paragraph 22 of this Schedule) which

has the object or effect of permitting a trader to increase the price of, or alter

unilaterally any characteristics of, goods, digital content or services during any

minimum contract period or before the end of a contract of a specified duration

without a valid reason or where it is reasonably foreseeable that the consumer

would not be free to dissolve the contract without being disadvantaged.’.

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

64


Schedule  2,  page  51,  line  37,  at end insert—

‘( )
A term which requires a consumer to pay a charge for or be liable for an element

of a good or service that another party has also been charged for in the course of

the same transaction.’.

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

65


Schedule  2,  page  51,  line  37,  at end insert—

‘( )
A term which seeks to restrict the ability of a consumer to access information to

enable them to ascertain whether the contract they are being offered could

undermine their statutory rights.’.

Stella Creasy

Stephen Doughty

67


Schedule  2,  page  51,  line  37,  at end insert—

‘( )
A term which has the object or effect of enabling a trader to increase the price of

the contract unilaterally without a valid reason and where the consumer is unable

to—

(a)
enter into a new regulated mortgage contract or home purchase plan or

vary the terms of an existing regulated mortgage contract or home

purchase plan with the existing mortgage lender or home purchase

provider; or

(b)
enter into a new regulated mortgage contract or home purchase plan with

a new mortgage lender or home purchase provider, where the terms

“regulated mortgage contract” and ‘home purchase plan’ have the same

meaning as in the Financial Services and Market Act 2000 (Regulated

Activities) Order 2001 as amended.’.



© Parliamentary copyright	Revised 25 February 2014