The Coalition Our Programme For Government Page 12

[FANTASY CHARGES]

• We will provide more protection against aggressive bailiffs and unreasonable charging orders, ensure that courts have the power to insist that repossession is always a last resort, and ban orders for sale on unsecured debts of less than £25,000
  

http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum_dg/groups/dg_digitalassets/@dg/@en/documents/digitalasset/dg_187876.pdf

[foolishgirl]

Hmm... wonder how far down the list of 'must do' this comes?

 

Sounds good but remember they are ALL politicians!

[sequenci]

ensure that courts have the power to insist that repossession is always a last resort, and ban orders for sale on unsecured debts of less than £25,000

 

This frightens me.

 

Creditors will stop using Charging Orders and will turn to Bankruptcy instead.

 

Scary as hell.

[foolishgirl]

Creditors will stop using Charging Orders and will turn to Bankruptcy instead.

 

Is the latter really any worse than the former - both have to be defended when unwarranted, both have an effect on your ability to obtain credit, both cause people to worry & panic.

 

There is nothing to stop DCAs issuing b/k proceedngs now; indeed some do! IMO they generally prefer COs because they think they are easier to obtain.

 

Unfortunately the SD process requires a swift response & that is what may catch out the unwary. Guess it's up to CAG to educate if that scenario becomes a commonplace reality.

[sequenci]

Is the latter really any worse than the former - .

 

Of course.

 

Only very few Charging Orders currently end up with a sale order. The law ALREADY states that an order for sale on a jointly owned family home is nigh on impossible.

 

In bankruptcy houses would usually be sold unless there is either no equity, or someone willing to buy out the bankrupt's share. It should also be worth considering that as we move forward the chances of people being able to challenge their agreements will become less and less. This is partly due to the changes in the statutes and the various cases that are making thigns more and more tricky. Also it's because the creditors are getting more and more savvy all the time.

 

Most creditors using the Charging Order route because it guarantees them their money at some point in the future whereas bankruptcy do this. The latter is a much more expensive option too.

[FANTASY CHARGES]

Consumer credit and debt | Policies | BIS

 

Consumers are key to a thriving and robust UK economy

 

It is important to learn lessons from the experience of the credit crunch and to take steps to improve the UK’s consumer credit regulatory regime for the future. The credit market needs to emerge in a better shape, with fairer outcomes for consumers, and contributing to, rather than potentially operating against wider financial stability.

 

The Government believes that action is needed to protect consumers, particularly the most vulnerable, and to promote greater competition across the economy. We need to promote more responsible corporate and consumer behaviour through greater transparency and by harnessing the insights from behavioural economics and social psychology.

• We will give regulators new powers to define and ban excessive interest rates on credit and store cards, and we will introduce a seven-day cooling-off period for store cards
  
• We will oblige credit card companies to provide better information to their customers in a uniform electronic format that will allow consumers to find out whether they are receiving the best deal
  
• We will introduce stronger consumer protections, including measures to end unfair bank and financial charges
  

Details of how these commitments will be fulfilled will follow shortly.