§ Mr. RooneyTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry, pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Bristol, West (Valerie Davey), 10 March 1999,Official Report, columns 263–64, concerning the mortgage market, how he defines unjust interest rates in relation to the provisions on extortionate credit in the Consumer Credit Act 1974. [77448]
§ Dr. Howells[holding answer 18 March 1999]: Under the terms of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, it is for the Court to decide whether any particular credit agreement is extortionate. Among the factors that the Court may take into account are the prevailing interest rates when the credit bargain was made, the financial pressure the borrower was under at that time and the level of payments.
269WThe research we have commissioned in this area will, amongst other things, look at what indicators can be drawn from past cases on extortionate credit and will also look at types of lending that appear to give rise to problems.