Office of Public Sector Information

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Consumer Credit (Information Requirements and Duration of Licences and Charges) Regulations 2007 (S.I. 2007/1167) (the Principal Regulations).

Paragraphs (a) to (d) of regulation 2 clarify the application of certain provisions in the Principal Regulations relating to the content of statements provided in relation to fixed-sum credit agreements; paragraph (e) provides details of the Competition Commission website at which details of home credit loans can be compared; paragraphs (f) to (i) clarify the requirements relating to information in statements provided in relation to running-account credit agreements, primarily as regards credit cards; paragraph (j) corrects an error in regulation 19(2) of the Principal Regulations, and provides that certain information may be omitted from notices of sums in arrears under fixed-sum credit agreements, other than the first notice, where the rate or rates of interest under the agreement are not applicable on a per annum basis; paragraphs (j), (k), (l) and (n) make amendments to clarify the information to be included in such notices regarding sums paid into the debtor’s account with the creditor; paragraph (m) clarifies what may be aggregated in such notices where the agreement to aggregate concerns agreements to which regulation 2(8) of the Consumer Credit (Agreements) Regulations 1983 (S.I.1983/1553) applies; paragraph (o) corrects an error in regulation 38 of the Principal Regulations; paragraph (p) exempts regulation 33 from the requirements in regulation 40 relating to the prominence of the information and wording required by the Principal Regulations, since the Consumer Credit (Enforcement, Default and Termination Notices) Regulations 1983 (S.I.1983/1561), which are amended by regulation 33, already contain requirements regarding the layout and prominence of information to which they apply; paragraph (q) clarifies what may be included as pre-commencement information in a notice of sums in arrears given in relation to a fixed-sum credit or regulated consumer hire agreement made before 1st October 2008; paragraph (r) clarifies in one respect the wording of information to be included, under Part 3 of Schedule 3 to the Principal Regulations, in notices of sums in arrears under fixed-sum credit agreements other than the first notice, and also corrects an error in that Part; and paragraph (s) amends the list in Schedule 5 to the Principal Regulations of organisations from whom advice and information about dealing with debt issues may be sought, by bringing it into line with corresponding information in current Office of Fair Trading Default information sheets.

An Impact Assessment has been prepared in respect of these Regulations and may be viewed at http://www.ialibrary.berr.gov.uk. The Regulatory Impact Assessment in respect of the Principal Regulations and the Regulatory Impact Assessment which accompanied the Consumer Credit Bill when it was introduced into the House of Commons in May 2005 may be viewed at http://www.berr.gov.uk/consumers/consumer-finance/credit-act-2006/documents.