§ Baroness Noakesasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they plan to take action to ensure that retailers who take deposits from customers are obliged to arrange fidelity insurance or similar protection to cover the consequences of insolvency of the retailer before delivery of the goods. [HL432]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Lord Sainsbury of Turville)We have no plans for a statutory scheme for protecting consumer prepayments in this way.
The Enterprise Act 2002 gives the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) increased powers to help develop effective self-regulation through approving and promoting consumer codes of practice that meet the OFT's core criteria. Where relevant to the sector, these criteria require protection of pre-payments. The OFT is working to promote effective codes in as many sectors as possible.