Consumer Credit Act 1974 - Provisions of The Act - Part V: Entry Into Credit or Hire Agreements - Withdrawals

Withdrawals

Part V contains several provisions relating to the cancellation of a regulated agreement and the withdrawal from a prospective regulated agreement. These are similar to those found in the Hire-Purchase Act 1965, but cover all consumer credit and consumer hire agreements rather than the hire-purchase and instalment sale agreements previously covered. The withdrawal from a prospective agreement is found primarily at common law; a party may withdraw from a prospective agreement at any point before it becomes a contract without obligations. He can withdraw the prospective agreement by notice to the other party, with the Act allowing the creditor to use credit brokers as agents for this purpose.

The right to cancel a confirmed agreement was introduced by the Hire-Purchase Act 1964, mainly to frustrate doorstep salesmen who would take advantage of an unsuspecting person and force them to sign up to an agreement, normally with misrepresentations. In the Consumer Credit Act, the right of cancellation is covered in Section 67, which allows the debtor or hirer the right to cancel an agreement if there were false oral representations made to the debtor by somebody acting for the creditor. The cancellation may be enacted by serving a notice of writing given to the creditor or an agent of the creditor within six days of the agreement being made.