header-logo header-logo

The Consumer Credit Act: Behind the times?

07 October 2022 / Alexander Edwards
Issue: 7997 / Categories: Features , Profession
printer mail-detail
96633
Change is (hopefully) coming: Alexander Edwards explores the benefits a reformed Consumer Credit Act 1974 might offer
  • The UK government has committed to reform the Consumer Credit Act 1974. It is hugely out of date in its current form, and it fails to offer the consumer protection it set out to deliver.
  • Technical terms will be simplified, and it will become easier and more cost-effective for businesses to implement regulation.
  • The reforms to the Act will essentially allow lenders to provide a wide range of finance while maintaining high levels of consumer protection.

The Consumer Credit Act 1974 (CCA 1974) governs billions of credit card purchases and loans each year. Almost 50 years after its enactment, there is self-evident need for an urgent reform. It is out of date with today’s modern world. In its current form, it fails to offer the consumer protection it set out to deliver, and some may say it could be contributing harm to consumers.

Unfit for purpose

While CCA 1974

If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
If you are already a subscriber sign in
...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Birketts—trainee cohort

Birketts—trainee cohort

Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

Keoghs—four appointments

Keoghs—four appointments

Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Brabners—Ben Lamb

Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

NEWS
Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
Writing in NLJ this week, Thomas Rothwell and Kavish Shah of Falcon Chambers unpack the surprise inclusion of a ban on upwards-only rent reviews in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
back-to-top-scroll