| Loan shark bill falls through due to lack of ‘enough time’ |
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The loan shark bill proposing changes to the existing laws to safeguard borrowers from the clutches of loan sharks and illegal lenders was shelved following the Government’s announcement of the General Election date. Since the government did not have enough time to push the Consumer Credit Bill before parliament dissolution on Monday, the bill was dropped.
Had this bill been considered, the Office of Fair Trading would have been empowered in a better way to seize loan sharks that were exploiting vulnerable borrowers badly. The bill would have also allowed consumers to defy and dispute unjust loan transactions outside the court by effectively strengthening licensing laws on consumer lending. A separate investigator or ombudsman for offended consumers would have been instituted and consumers wouldn’t have to go through the usual long-drawn ordeals of the court.
However, the proposal could not take shape with the Tories not having ample time for its introduction. This failure has also sparked off apprehensions among various consumer groups and charitable associations regarding the safety of borrowers from loan sharks.
Sue Edwards, Citizens Advice senior policy officer remarked that such a bill had been awaited for 30 long years and it was very sad how necessary reforms in a long-known obsolete law was taking so much time. He called it ‘deeply regrettable’.
Citizens Advice commented that any party that came to power after the elections on 5 May ought to give the consumer credit bill utmost priority. The Consumer Credit Counselling Service also seemed quite hassled about the bill and its spokeswoman said, 'It's not a massively contentious issue and we can't see much drive for it to be introduced, even though it has cross-party support.'
What’s more, even the Government confessed dissatisfaction about the bill falling through, with the leader of the House, Peter Hain agreeing that loan sharks had afflicted the entire populace and they had also desired to treat it through the bill.
Posted
on : Wed, 06 Apr 2005 00:00 GMT | Loans News
By : Chris Rowe
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