Hi all,
I've just seen this which will affect financial organisations and I'm now wondering if we have to either demand clarification or make assumptions about which law the customer is making their request for information under, DPA as a Subject Access Request or the Cunsumer Credit Act and OFT guidelines...... Has anyone else worked on this and what would you recommend is a practical approach?
Cheers Clare Watts
DPO FCE Bank plc
"The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has warned consumers that businesses claiming to be able to use Sections 77, 78 and 79 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 to assist debtors or hirers to request their debts be written off are misleading them. The OFT has published a guide on the rights consumers have to request information under these sections. Amongst other things, the guide explains that for a fee of £1 consumers may request a copy of their credit or hire agreement, as well as information on their account in order to find out:
what was originally agreed;
what the agreement is now (in case it has been amended); and
how much is still owed.
In the event that the lender fails to provide the requested information, the agreement becomes “unenforceable”, which means the lender cannot get a court judgement against the borrower, take back hired items or items bought on credit, or take anything used as security when the agreement was made. However, even if a credit or hire agreement becomes “unenforceable”, consumers would still owe any outstanding money to the lender, interest could be added to their loan or hire agreement, default charges could be made, and any failure to pay could impact on the consumer’s credit record. The debt becomes enforceable again as soon as the lender provides the requested information."
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