Clamping down on scams and rip-offs

12 Apr 2011

JOINT CONSULTATION PAPER: REFORMING CONSUMER REDRESS FOR MISLEADING AND AGGRESSIVE PRACTICES (DISCUSSION PAPER NO 149)

We are inviting comment on the above joint Consultation Paper which has been published today. A summary is also available.

The paper puts forward options for reforming the law relating to misleading and aggressive commercial practices. We propose a new scheme of remedies which would apply if consumers proved that the aggressive or misleading commercial practice was likely to cause the average consumer to enter a contract or make a payment which would not otherwise have been made and that it was a significant factor in their own decision. In our proposals, the remedies are set out in two tiers; tier 1 remedies would be provided where the consumer establishes a misleading or aggressive practice, and the focus would be on returning consumers to the position in which they would have been had the misleading or aggressive practice not happened. Tier 2 remedies resemble traditional damages, and would be awarded if consumers could prove they had suffered actual loss over and above the tier 1 recovery.

For further details please see the project page.