CONC 3.8 Financial promotions and communications: lenders
Application
This section applies to a financial promotion or a communication with a customer in relation to consumer credit lending.
Unfair business practices
A firm must not in a financial promotion or a communication with a customer:
- (1)
provide an application for credit with a pre-completed amount of credit which is not based on having carried out a creditworthiness assessment (see CONC 5.2A)2; or
[Note: paragraph 5.3 of ILG]
- (2)
state or imply1 that providing credit is dependent solely upon the value of the equity in property on which the agreement is to be secured; or
[Note: paragraph 5.4 of ILG]
- (3)
promote credit where the firm knows, or has reason to believe, that the agreement would be unsuitable for that customer in the light of the customer's financial circumstances or, if known, intended use of the credit.
[Note: paragraph 5.5 of ILG]
An agreement is likely to be unsuitable for the purposes of CONC 3.8.2R (3) including in the following situations where a firm:
- (1)
promotes, suggests or advises taking out a secured loan or to take out a secured loan to replace or convert an unsecured loan when it is clearly not in that person's best interests to do so at that time; or
- (2)
promotes, suggests or advises taking out high-cost short-term credit which would be expensive as a means of longer term borrowing, as being suitable for sustained borrowing over a longer period.
[Note: paragraph 5.5 (box) of ILG]
For the purposes of CONC 3.8.2R (3) the unsuitability of an agreement does not apply to the question of whether a customer should enter into a regulated credit agreement at all.
[Note: paragraph 5.5 (box) of ILG]