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| | ‘(1A) | For the purposes of this legislation every contract to supply a service by those |
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| | traders who are ring-fenced bodies providing financial servies as defined under |
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| | section 142 of the Financial Services Banking Reform Act 2013 shall— |
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| | (a) | be subject to a fiduciary duty towards its consumers in the operation of |
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| | core services to provide these with reasonable care and skill as well as in |
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| | the management of any individual contract to provide services; and |
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| | (b) | be subject to a duty of care towards consumers across the financial |
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| Clause 49, page 30, line 8, at end insert— |
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| | ‘(1A) | This requirement shall apply to all activities associated with providing a service |
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| | (a) | the management of information held by the trader about the consumer |
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| | gained in the course of this contract, |
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| | (b) | the communication with the consumer regarding the contract including |
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| | activites by the trader designed to induce the consumer to purchase |
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| | further goods or services from the trader, |
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| | (c) | for the purposes of this legislation this shall be taken to include a |
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| | requirement for traders to prove they have the direct consent of a |
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| | consumer to share information on consumers gathered for the purposes |
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| | of providing a service with any third party including, but not limited to, |
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| | marketing and communication purposes, and |
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| | (d) | the trader will be liable for compensation for any distress caused by such |
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| | activity undertaken involving communications with the consumer via |
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| | either themselves or a third party without this consent.’. |
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| Clause 50, page 30, line 18, at end insert— |
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| | ‘(1A) | Where a trader is selling a service that has restrictions on who can purchase it, |
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| | public communications about that service, including promotional material and |
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| | any promotional activities shall be required to reflect these restrictions.’. |
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| Clause 50, page 30, line 18, at end insert— |
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| | ‘(1B) | Prior to the provision of the service or agreeing the contract, whichever happens |
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| | first, the trader will explicitly provide the consumer with relevant details of their |
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| | statutory rights under sections 51, 52, 55 and 56 of this Act.’. |
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| Clause 50, page 30, line 18, at end insert— |
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| | ‘(1C) | The trader is required to provide full details of the total cost of the service prior |
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| | to sale including any additional service fees or charges that could be incurred by |
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| | the buyer in purchasing the service. |
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| | (1D) | The information set out in subsection (1C) should be portrayed prior to sale and |
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| | the explicit consent to purchase the service at this price sought prior to sale.’. |
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| Clause 50, page 30, line 22, after ‘trader’, insert ‘with equal prominence and’. |
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| Clause 50, page 30, line 31, at end insert— |
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| | ‘(4A) | Where the trader seeks to change any of the information mentioned in subsection |
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| | (3) after a contract has been entered into by a consumer, the trader must— |
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| | (a) | ensure that if the consumer does not wish to agree to the changes sought, |
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| | the consumer is able to terminate the contract without incurring financial |
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| | (b) | offer the consumer an alternative contract for the same service with a |
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| | comparable financial outcome for the consumer of the existing contract.’. |
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| Clause 50, page 30, line 31, at end insert— |
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| | ‘(4A) | Where the trader seeks to change any of the information set out in subsection (3) |
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| | after a contract has been entered into by a consumer, the trader must— |
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| | (a) | ensure that if the consumer does not wish to agree to the changes sought, |
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| | the consumer is able to terminate the contract without incurring financial |
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| | (b) | offer the consumer an alternative contract with a comparable financial |
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| | outcome for the consumer of the existing contract.’. |
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| Clause 51, page 30, line 37, leave out paragraph (b) and insert— |
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| | ‘(b) | the contract does not expressly fix a price for all elements of the service |
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| | supplied and the consumer faces ongoing costs or charges for an element |
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| Clause 51, page 31, line 3, at end insert— |
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| | ‘(4) | To enable consumers to assess whether the price they are paying for a service is |
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| | reasonable, and no more, and with regard to the provisions of Clause 50, section |
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| | 1, the Secretary of State will— |
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| | (a) | under the power set out in section 89 of the Enterprise Regulatory |
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| | Reform Act 2013 enact regulations to require all regulated persons to |
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| | provide customers with data regarding their personal use of a service, |
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| | (b) | further specify in a report presented to Parliament within three months of |
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| | this legislation being enacted which traders operating as a business as |
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| | defined by Clause 2 of this legislation shall be considered regulated |
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| | persons including any government, or local or public authority and |
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| | therefore identify a relevant regulatory body to undertake the duties set |
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| | (c) | having regard to the powers of the Secretary of State under subsection (8) |
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| | of Clause 89 of the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act that within |
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| | three months of this legislation being enacted require Regulators of |
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| | services provided by regulated persons will report to them on guidance to |
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| | cover the following requirements for this purpose including— |
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| | (i) | the provision of such data in a format which enables the |
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| | consumer to assess whether the price they are paying for a |
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| | service is reasonable including but not limited to the description |
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| | set out in section (7) of Clause 89 of the Enterprise Regulatory |
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| | (ii) | the provision of guidance that can enable third parties to make a |
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| | request for this information with the consent of the consumer |
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| | including measures to limit the total charge that can be applied |
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| | for any such single request for data on behalf of multiple |
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| | (iii) | requirements for those who hold data on consumers on behalf of |
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| | any government, local or public authority to seek to use this |
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| | information to secure social and consumer benefits for its |
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| | application as directed by the information commissioner, |
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| | (iv) | requirements for all regulated persons to recognise that primacy |
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| | of ownership of any data generated directly in the course of a |
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| | contract with a consumer at any point in its execution lies with |
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| | the consumer and as such any decision requiring the |
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| | transmission of this data in a format where the consumer can be |
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| | identified to a third party by the trader must secure the direct |
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| | |
| | (v) | requirements for all regulated persons to make available upon |
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| | request to a regulatory body information pertaining to their |
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| | management of non personal data collected in the course of |
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| | interactions with consumers by traders for the purposes of |
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| | enabling regulatory bodies to assess whether the rights of |
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| | consumers to a reasonable price for a service have been |
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| | (vi) | guidance for the trader to clarify their ongoing responsibility for |
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| | the security and accuracy of data held on consumers whether the |
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| | consumer continues to maintain a contract with the trader or not, |
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| | (vii) | guidance for all regulated persons on how to make publicly |
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| | available how consumers may exercise their right to access this |
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| | data for the purposes of being able to make decisions on |
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| | contracts for services.’. |
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| Clause 51, page 31, line 3, at end insert— |
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| | ‘(4) | Where the consumer is required to pay for a service via a third party as part of |
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| | another contract, for the purposes of assessing whether the charges they are |
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| | required to pay are reasonable they will have a right to the full details of any |
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| | contract including all charges and costs to which they are contributing. |
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| Clause 51, page 31, line 3, at end insert— |
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| | ‘(4) | Where the consumer is being supplied a financial service, the consumer shall be |
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| | provided with such information as shall enable them to know the risks that were |
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| | taken into account in calculating the applicable premium and the profit that the |
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| | financial services company and/or financial broker anticipates to make on that |
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| | premium if there is no claim on the policy.’. |
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| Clause 51, page 31, line 3, at end insert— |
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| | ‘(4) | Where the service provided is for an additional assistance service, a reasonable |
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| | price will be one which is judged by reference to— |
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| | (a) | the guidance set out by the original provider of the service who has |
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| | approved the provision of such an additional service including specifying |
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| | a range of costs for its provision which can be considered reasonable, |
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| | (b) | an additional assistance service for the purposes of this legislation is to |
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| | be considered any service assisting a consumer to use the original service |
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| | that does not alter the original service provider’s intent in operating this |
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| Clause 52, page 31, line 12, at end insert— |
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| | ‘(3A) | For the purposes of this Act, where the service provides assistance to the |
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| | consumer for what can reasonably be considered serious loss of— |
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| | (b) | primary living accommodation, or |
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| | | and such a service would be considered their primary redress for such a loss, the |
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| | impact of any delay in provision of this service on their quality of life can be taken |
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| | into account in determining what timeframe is considered reasonable. |
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| | (3B) | Considerations under subsection (3A) do not affect the right of consumers to seek |
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| | other remedies for a breach of contract at a later date regarding delay in provision |
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| Clause 54, page 31, line 30, at end insert— |
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| | ‘( ) | The trader shall provide the consumer with full details of their relevant statutory |
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| | rights under a services contract before the point at which the consumer seeks to |
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| | challenge whether these rights have been met. This shall be done within an |
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| | appropriate, retainable format and within a reasonable time of contact with the |
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| | trader for this purpose to enable the consumer to exercise their rights.’. |
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| Clause 54, page 31, line 34, at end insert— |
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| | ‘(c) | where the conduct of the service leader can be reasonably considered to |
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| | lead to a risk to the personal safety of the consumer, the consumer has a |
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| | (i) | a full refund of the cost of the contract, and |
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| | (ii) | any additional fees associated with the service. |
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| | | Any action taken under this subsection will not prevent the consumer from |
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| | seeking other remedies or further compensation for the consequences of this |
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| Clause 54, page 32, line 6, at end insert— |
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| | ‘( ) | In seeking to enquire about the terms of their contract, possible breaches of their |
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| | statutory rights or enforce terms about service, a trader cannot charge the |
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| | consumer for seeking to communicate with them.’. |
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| Clause 55, page 32, line 19, at end insert— |
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| | ‘(1A) | Where the quality of provision of services has been deemed to be hazardous or so |
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| | poor as to cause the consumer to reasonably lose confidence in the trader’s ability |
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| | to provide services which they would wish to purchase, the consumer may refuse |
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| | a repeat performance and exercise their right to price reduction under section 56.’. |
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| Clause 56, page 32, line 34, at end insert— |
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| | ‘( ) | When considering what is an “appropriate amount” for the purpose of this |
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| | section, consideration shall be given to reasonable steps that will return the |
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| | consumer to the position they would now be in, if the trader had not breached the |
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| | contract in the first place.’. |
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| Clause 56, page 32, line 36, at end insert— |
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| | | ‘The consumer is entitled to this refund within 30 days of agreeing that a refund |
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| | is to be paid using the same payment method used in the original transfer. Where |
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| | the trader fails to ensure this refund is provided within this timeframe the |
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| | consumer is entitled to seek damages from the trader commensurate with the |
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| | impact of any loss caused by this delay unless the consumer has decided to waive |
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| | this right to a refund within this timeframe.’. |
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| Clause 56, page 32, line 43, at end insert— |
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| | ‘(c) | the consumer has exercised their right under section 55(1A).’. |
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| Schedule 1, page 49, line 30, at end insert— |
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| | ‘Consequential repeal and revocation |
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| | 55 | In consequence of the amendments made by this Schedule— |
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| | (a) | omit paragraph 5(9) of Schedule 2 to the Sale and Supply of Goods |
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| | (b) | omit paragraph 97 of Schedule 2 to the Consumer Protection from |
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| | Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/1277).’. |
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| | Member’s explanatory statement
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| | This amendment repeals or revokes provisions which are redundant because they amend provi |
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| | sions which are in turn repealed by Schedule 1 to the Bill. |
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| Clause 62, page 35, line 32, at end insert— |
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| | ‘( ) | For the purposes of this Act, consumer notices are considered any information or |
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| | requirements about the contract conveyed to the consumer before or during the |
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| | commissioning of the contract by the trader which may reasonably be considered |
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| | designed to influence the behaviour of the consumer.’. |
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| Clause 63, page 36, line 25, at end insert— |
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| | ‘( ) | Where a contract includes a term which is included in either Part 1 or Part 2 of |
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| | Schedule 2 of this Act, the trader must draw to the attention of the consumer these |
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| | terms and their rights to challenge these under this legislation prior to purchase.’. |
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| Schedule 2, page 51, line 11, at end insert— |
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| | | ‘A term (including those within the scope of paragraph 22 of this Schedule) which |
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| | has the object or effect of permitting a trader to increase the price of, or alter |
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| | unilaterally any characteristics of, goods, digital content or services during any |
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| | minimum contract period or before the end of a contract of a specified duration |
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| | without a valid reason or where it is reasonably foreseeable that the consumer |
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| | would not be free to dissolve the contract without being disadvantaged.’. |
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| Schedule 2, page 51, line 37, at end insert— |
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| | ‘( ) | A term which requires a consumer to pay a charge for or be liable for an element |
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| | of a good or service that another party has also been charged for in the course of |
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| Schedule 2, page 51, line 37, at end insert— |
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| | ‘( ) | A term which seeks to restrict the ability of a consumer to access information to |
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| | enable them to ascertain whether the contract they are being offered could |
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| | undermine their statutory rights.’. |
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| Schedule 2, page 51, line 37, at end insert— |
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| | ‘( ) | A term which has the object or effect of enabling a trader to increase the price of |
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| | the contract unilaterally without a valid reason and where the consumer is unable |
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| | (a) | enter into a new regulated mortgage contract or home purchase plan or |
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| | vary the terms of an existing regulated mortgage contract or home |
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| | purchase plan with the existing mortgage lender or home purchase |
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| | |
| | (b) | enter into a new regulated mortgage contract or home purchase plan with |
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| | a new mortgage lender or home purchase provider, where the terms |
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| | “regulated mortgage contract” and ‘home purchase plan’ have the same |
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| | meaning as in the Financial Services and Market Act 2000 (Regulated |
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| | Activities) Order 2001 as amended.’. |
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