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Credit and Over-indebtedness

The Consumer Credit Act 2006 (which was fully implemented on 1 October 2008) amends the Consumer Credit Act 1974, implementing the primary legislative commitments made in the White Paper. Details about the 2006 Act, including the statutory instruments that have been made in relation to it, can be found on the Consumer Credit Act 2006 webpages.

A number of statutory instruments took forward the commitment in the White Paper to enable and facilitate the use of electronic communications for concluding and administering consumer credit agreements. These came into effect on 31st December 2004. Further information is available on the CCA Review webpages.

The term over-indebtedness is used to describe debt which has become a major burden for the borrower. In the 2003 White Paper the Government committed to reducing the social exclusion, financial exclusion and poverty that problem debt can cause and which can contribute to over-indebtedness. Further information is available on the Over-indebtedness webpages.

Consumer Credit Directive

The Consumer Credit Directive was adopted by the European Commission in May 2008. EU Member states are required to bring it into force by June 2010. Further information is available on the Consumer Credit Directive webpages.

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