§ Lord Taylor of Warwickasked Her Majesty's Government: What steps they are taking to monitor the activities of personal loan and debt consolidation companies, which are now being advertised on daytime television. [HL35]
§ Lord Sainsbury of TurvilleThe Office of Fair Trading (OFT) launched a fact-finding study into debt consolidation on 17 June 2003, under Section 5 of the Enterprise Act 2002. The study is examining the activities of a range of companies which offer debt consolidation products. It is focusing on how much consumers know about what they are committing themselves to and seeking to assess whether lenders are being responsible in their dealings with borrowers. The study is due to report early in 2004 and will help to inform the OFT's enforcement of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (CCA).
The review of the CCA has been looking at strengthening the consumer credit licensing system. 47WA We will shortly be publishing a White Paper setting out the conclusions of the review.