FCA Handbook - CONC 4.8 Pre-contract: unfair business practices: consumer credit lending

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CONC 4.8 Pre-contract: unfair business practices: consumer credit lending

Application

This section applies to a firm carrying on consumer credit lending.

Unfair business practices

A firm must not unfairly encourage, incentivise or induce a customer to enter into a regulated credit agreement quickly without allowing the customer time to consider the pre-contract information under section 55 of the CCA and the explanations provided under CONC 4.2.5 R.

[Note: paragraph 5.10 of ILG]

Stating an end date for a promotion would not amount to the behaviour in CONC 4.8.2 R.

[Note: paragraph 5.10 (box) of ILG]

A firm must not unfairly encourage, incentivise or induce a customer to enter into a regulated credit agreement for an amount higher than the customer requests.

[Note: paragraph 5.11 of ILG]

Merely offering a customer more credit than the customer requested would not amount to the behaviour in CONC 4.8.4 R where:

(1)
the offer of the higher amount was based on a proper creditworthiness assessment; or
(2)
the firm offers more advantageous terms, conditions or prices to customers for larger loans, provided that such offers are sufficiently transparent and a proper creditworthiness assessment has been carried out;

and the customer was not pressurised or unfairly coerced into accepting the higher amount of credit.

[Note: paragraph 5.11 (box) of ILG]

A firm must not lead a customer to believe that the customer's current debt repayments can be reduced under a regulated credit agreement over the same term when this is not the case.

[Note: paragraph 5.13 of ILG]