The buyer credit Act Explained

The Consumer prestige Act was first introduced in 1974, in order to furnish greater transparency and security for consumers purchasing goods and services on credit, and also to generate a fairer, more competitive market for prestige providers. The Act lays out a series of guidelines which prestige providers must conform to, in order for prestige agreements to be carefully legally binding.

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In 2006, an amendment to the Act was introduced to added safe the interests of consumers. The following report details the terms of the both Acts, and how these spin to consumers.

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What is governed by the Consumer prestige Act?

The Act covers the following types of prestige agreements:

o Credit cards

o Store cards

o Secured, unsecured and consolidation loans

o Car finance agreements

What are the terms of the of the Consumer prestige Act?

All prestige agreements must be fully clear in their terms and conditions with no missing or misleading information. They must state a distance of ageement and also a defined rate of Apr.

2006 amendments to the Consumer prestige Act

In 2006, the Act was amended to include the following changes:

o Credit agreements over £25,000 to be included for the first time, to reflect the growing amount of debt

o The Act now governs small businesses such as one man operations, alongside the major lenders

Ombudsmen

The 2006 amendments to the Act also gave consumers the option of consulting the financial services Ombudsman service if they felt that they had been unfairly treated by a finance provider.

Office of Fair Trading

Another amendment following the 2006 Act sees the Office of Fair Trading (Oft) being given the power to study applications for licenses for those associates gift prestige to consumers. The Oft can also impose conditions on the granting of these licenses, and impose penalties on those who fail to comply with the terms of the Consumer prestige Act.

What happens if the terms of the Consumer prestige Act are breached?

Under the Act, prestige agreements which do not match up to these criteria can be deemed to be unfair on the consumer and therefore rendered 'unenforceable.' This means that the agreements are effectively torn up and the debt wiped clean.

Now you know more about the Consumer prestige Act, and how it affects you, you'll be able to check that all prestige agreements you sign in future meet the requirements of the Act, and what you can do if they don't.

The buyer credit Act Explained

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