Assesment of catalogue credit from the OFT

[Amethyst]

Consumer Credit Interventions Evaluation
Prepared for Office of Fair Trading
By IFF Research
June 09


Interesting read regarding the use of the CCA by catalogue companies.

8.1 The final case study looks into the business practices of Catalogue Mail Order Companies (CMOCs). A concern regarding certain CMOCs is that they operate on the basis of unsigned credit agreements, that is, they send out catalogues which include a credit agreement but consumers are often unaware of the agreement, its precise terms and their statutory rights. CMOCs may nevertheless continue their business as if the agreement has been signed. Some CMOCs may impose default and administrative fees or hire debt collectors to recover outstanding payments which in turn may negatively affect the consumer’s credit rating; sometimes without consumers being aware of this at all or signing a credit agreement.