S.C.E.

103

House of Commons

Notices of Amendments

given up to and including

Friday 21st January 2005

New Amendments handed in are marked thus *

Standing Committee E

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Consumer Credit Bill

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Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

9

Clause  3,  page  2,  line  27,  after ‘description’, insert ‘, who shall not be connected

through pecuniary interest to the lender’.

Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

10

Clause  3,  page  2,  line  30,  at end insert—

‘(d)	must be signed by the debtor in the presence of an independent witness,

who shall not be connected through pecuniary interest to the lender and

shall not be the person who has made the statement referred to in

subsection (1)(b).’.

——————————

Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

11

Page  3,  line  2,  leave out Clause 4.

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S.C.E.      Notices of Amendments: 21st January 2005

104

Consumer Credit Bill, continued

Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Graingerer

Alistair Burt

12

Clause  5,  page  3,  line  37,  leave out ‘or 16B’.

Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

13

Clause  5,  page  4,  line  1,  leave out subsection (3).

Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

14

Clause  5,  page  4,  line  16,  leave out subsection (7).

Mr Gerry Sutcliffe

1

Clause  5,  page  4,  line  18,  leave out ‘that section’ and insert ‘section 185 of that Act

(agreement with more than one debtor or hirer)’.

Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

15

Clause  5,  page  4,  line  25,  leave out ‘or 16B’.

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Malcolm Bruce

Dr Jenny Tonge

29

Clause  6,  page  4,  line  32,  after ‘made’, insert ‘or the mid-point of the loan,

whichever is sooner’.

Malcolm Bruce

Dr Jenny Tonge

30

Clause  6,  page  4,  line  36,  at end insert—

‘(c)	shall clearly state within the agreement the amount borrowed and the

total interest payable on the loan; and

(d)	shall advise the debtor borrowing on credit cards that for long term

balances other credit products such as loans or overdrafts may be

available; and

(e)	shall be obliged to give free and impartial advice to the debtor as to

alternative products that may reduce the cost of borrowing.’.

S.C.E.      Notices of Amendments: 21st January 2005

105

Consumer Credit Bill, continued

Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

16

Clause  6,  page  4,  line  38,  at end insert ‘but shall include—

(a)	the amount paid by the debtor to the lender to date;

(b)	the amount remaining to be paid by the debtor to the lender; and

(c)	the remaining term of the agreement.’.

Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

17

Clause  6,  page  5,  line  37,  at end insert—

‘(7A)

In addition to the statement referred to in subsection (1) above the lender shall

also provide the debtor with a statement at the outset of the agreement.

(7B)	Regulations may make provisions about the form and content of the statements

under (7A), but the contents shall include a clear guide as to—

(a)	the redress procedures available to the debtor if any dispute regarding the

agreement shall arise, with particular respect to the Financial Services

Ombudsman and the Financial Services Authority;

(b)	sources of information and advice with regard to the debtor’s rights under

the terms of this Act and the 1974 Act; and

(c)	any charges, other than interest payments, which the lender may

legitimately make.’.

——————————

Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

18

Clause  8,  page  6,  line  35,  at end insert ‘, but shall include—

(a)	details of the rights of consumers under this Act and the 1974 Act with

regard to defaults; and

(b)	details of redress procedures available to debtors, with particular respect

to the Financial Services Ombudsman and the Financial Services

Authority.’.

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Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

19

Clause  9,  page  8,  line  2,  at end insert ‘, but shall include—

S.C.E.      Notices of Amendments: 21st January 2005

106

Consumer Credit Bill, continued

(a)	details of the rights of consumers under this Act and the 1974 Act with

regard to arrears; and

(b)	details of redress procedures available to debtors, with particular respect

to the Financial Services Ombudsman and the Financial Services

Authority.’.

Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

20

Clause  9,  page  8,  line  6,  leave out ‘four’ and insert ‘six’.

——————————

Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddel-Grainger

Alistair Burt

21

Clause  10,  page  8,  line  37,  at end insert ‘, but shall include—

(a)	details of the rights of consumers under this Act and the 1974 Act with

regard to arrears;

(b)	details of redress procedures available to debtors, with particular respect

to the Financial Services Ombudsman and the Financial Services

Authority.’.

——————————

Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

22

Clause  12,  page  10,  line  23,  at end insert—

‘(6A)

The debtor shall not be required to pay a default sum unless the liability to do so

is clearly set out in the statement as required under subsection (7) of section 6 of

this Act.’.

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Chris Bryant

8

Clause  19 ,  page  13,  line  13,  at end insert—

‘(bb)

the debtor entered into the credit agreement as a result of the creditor

sending him an unsolicited pre-approved application form;’.

S.C.E.      Notices of Amendments: 21st January 2005

107

Consumer Credit Bill, continued

Malcolm Bruce

Dr Jenny Tonge

31

Clause  19,  page  13,  line  19,  leave out ‘matters relating to the creditor’ and insert

‘whether the creditor lent responsibly’.

Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

23

Clause  19,  page  13,  line  19,  at end insert—

‘(2A)

In particular, when determining whether an agreement is unfair, the court should

consider—

(a)	whether the terms of the agreement, which the lender is seeking to

enforce, were clearly set out in the pre-agreement statement provided by

the lender to the debtor as set out in subsection 7 of section 6 of this Act;

(b)	whether the lender has complied with all other requirements of this Act

and the 1974 Act;

(c)	whether the initial terms of the agreement might be considered to be

significantly unfavourable to the debtor when compared with other

similar agreements, when there are no compensating factors within the

said agreement available to the debtor; and

(d)	whether the running of the agreement might be considered to be

significantly unfair to the debtor when taking into account the relative

financial strength of the parties to the agreement.’.

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Mr Gerry Sutcliffe

2

Clause  29,  page  21,  line  39,  leave out ‘has applied to’ and insert ‘would’.

——————————

Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

24

Clause  22,  page  16,  line  6,  leave out ‘alleges’ and insert ‘demonstrates’.

——————————

Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

25

Clause  25,  page  18,  line  6,  at end insert—

S.C.E.      Notices of Amendments: 21st January 2005

108

Consumer Credit Bill, continued

‘(2A)

It shall be the responsibility of individuals, partnerships, companies or

organisations acting as credit information services as defined in subsection (1), or

acting as credit reference agencies as defined in subsection (1) of section 145 of

the 1974 Act, to take all reasonable steps to ensure that the information which

they store on any individual, partnership, company or organisation, and which

they impart to a third party, is accurate, up-to-date, and gives a true reflection of

the credit record of the said individual, partnership, company or organisation.

(2AA)

Failure to take the steps identified in subsection (2A) shall give rise to the

opportunity for the individual, partnership, company or organisation to seek

compensation through the civil courts for the keeping of inaccurate information.’.

——————————

Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

26

Clause  29,  page  22,  line  33,  at end insert—

‘(4)	The Secretary of State may, by order by Statutory Instrument, subject to

affirmative resolution, vary the guidance or issue further guidance to the Office

of Fair Trading (OFT) with regard to this section, and the OFT shall then be

required to have due regard to this guidance.’.

——————————

Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

27

Clause  30,  page  22,  line  46,  at end insert ‘, and shall have regard to the regulations

issued by the Secretary of State.’.

——————————

Mr Gerry Sutcliffe

3

Clause  31,  page  24,  line  2,  leave out subsection (8) and insert—

‘(8)	Subsection (1) shall have effect in relation to a standard licence as if an

application could be made for the renewal or further renewal of the licence on the

same terms (except as to expiry) even if such an application could not be made

because of provision made in a general notice under section 24A(5).

(9)	Accordingly, in applying subsection (1AA) of section 25 in relation to the licence

for the purposes of this section, the OFT shall treat references in that subsection

to the description or descriptions of business in relation to a type of business as

references to the description or descriptions of business included in the licence in

relation to that type of business, notwithstanding that provision under section

24A(5).’.

S.C.E.      Notices of Amendments: 21st January 2005

109

Consumer Credit Bill, continued

Mr Gerry Sutcliffe

4

Clause  31,  page  24,  line  13,  leave out ‘because a person can no longer’ and insert

‘simply because, by virtue of provision made in a general notice under section 24A(5), a

person cannot’.

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Mr Gerry Sutcliffe

7

Clause  32,  page  24,  line  20,  after ‘step’, insert ‘for such period as it thinks fit’.

Mr Gerry Sutcliffe

5

Clause  32,  page  24,  line  27,  leave out subsections (3) and (4) and insert—

‘(3)	Subject to subsection (4), where the OFT defers the taking of a step falling within

subsection (2), the licence shall continue in effect for the period of the deferral—

(a)	on the same terms (disregarding the OFT’s determination to take the step

falling within subsection (2)); or

(b)	in the case of a step falling within subsection (2)(b), on the terms applied

for;

and, in the case of a step falling within subsection (2)(a) or (b), notwithstanding

that apart from this subsection the licence would expire before the end of the

period of the deferral.

(4)	Where the OFT defers the taking of a step falling within subsection (2), it may—

(a)	specify activities or descriptions of activities which are to be excluded

from the activities authorised to be carried on by virtue of subsection (3);

(b)	specify requirements which must be complied with by the licensee during

the period of the deferral in relation to the activities authorised to be

carried on by virtue of that subsection;

(c)	terminate the period of the deferral if the licensee fails to comply with a

requirement specified under paragraph (b).

(4A)	Under subsection (4)(a) an activity may be excluded for the whole of the period

of the deferral or for only a specified part of it.’.

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Mr Laurence Robertson

Gregory Barker

Mr Ian Liddell-Grainger

Alistair Burt

28

Page  39,  line  11,  leave out Clause 48.

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Revised 24 January 2005