Consumer Credit Directive changes for 2011

The new Consumer Credit EU Directive comes into force on 1^st February 2011 with the result that there are a number of changes to the Consumer Credit Act. To support these changes new features have been implemented in TRIPP for Windows to handle the new Early Settlement Regulations and provide a Statement of Account for fixed-sum agreements. 

Any client who has the TRIPP for Windows version of the TRIPP-C system or the TRIPP for Windows Consumer Credit Documents module for the TRIPP-S system will be entitled to a free upgrade. The upgrade will provide the statements of accounts and new settlement quotation logic.

Full details of the new updates are as follows:

• Statement of Account. A borrower has the right to request a statement of account showing details of each instalment which is or will become payable under the agreement. The breakdown of each instalment must show the capital repayment, interest payment and other charges. With regards to TRIPP, these statements apply to all fixed-sum credit (i.e. hire purchase, conditional sale and loan) agreements regulated by the Consumer Credit Act for credit not exceeding £60,260 and where the agreement is not wholly or predominantly for business purposes or excluded for other specific reasons. A statement of account may be requested for any agreement entered into from 11^th June 2010. These statements of account will be produced from the TRIPP for Windows Statements facility and be known within the facility as 'Income' statements because the instalment breakdown includes both capital and income.

• Partial Early Settlement. A borrower has the right to make partial early repayments of a credit agreement. This applies to all agreements entered into from 11^th June 2010 which are not specifically excluded. The Settlement Quotation module within TRIPP for Windows Complete Agreement Details Enquiry facility will allow a partial settlement calculation. This will calculate the rebate due when a partial early settlement is made, basing the rebate on either a reduction in the future instalment or a reduction in the future term. In both cases the new values will be shown after applying the partial early settlement.

• Early Settlement Examples. This is not a new requirement just an enhancement to provide examples for evaluation proposals. TRIPP for Windows Lease Evaluation facility now provides a calculation button to calculate the trio of early settlement examples required under the Consumer Credit Act for any proposal (hire purchase, conditional sale or loan) marked as regulated.

The statement of account is produced using a Word document as the template with agreement specific information merged into it. This allows greater control over the format of the document, including personalisation of it, as well as the ability to send the document by other means, such as by fax or e-mail, rather than just printing it.

Upgrades will be supplied to the clients in the coming week. If you require more details please contact Graham or Tamara at Tritech.

These updates follow on from the Consumer Credit Act 2006 post-contract information changes provided in late 2008.