New protection for consumers

After 20 years of campaigning by the National Consumer Council (NCC), and other consumer bodies, new rules that require all businesses to treat customers fairly will finally come into force on Monday (26 May).

The new Consumer Protection Regulations will place a duty on businesses not to trade unfairly by omitting important information or making misleading statements.

There will also be a ban 31 specific practices in all circumstances.

Carl Belgrove, Senior Policy Advocate at the NCC, said: "These new laws represent a big boost to consumer protection, particularly for vulnerable people who are targeted by rogue traders.

"The one thing missing is a way for consumers to claim compensation when businesses act unfairly and we hope that will be remedied soon."

In Ireland, the same legislation has included a civil redress mechanism that enables consumers to take legal action when unfair commercial practices have been exposed.

In the UK, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) has asked the Law Commission to look into the possibility of introducing a civil redress mechanism, but their work is not expected to start until 2010 at the earliest.

The National Consumer Council is urging BERR and the Law Commission to start this review as soon as possible.