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A cause for consumer concern
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Since then, despite repeated calls for consumer rights in the Island to be upgraded to match those in the UK, nothing tangible has been achieved.
Although formal consultation on a new law has been launched, Consumer Council chairman Senator Alan Breckon – a man who knows more about consumer protection than most – is quite obviously right when he says that progress has been painfully slow. Moreover, even if the pace has picked up a little, it is unlikely that any new law will be enacted until 2013.
However, those who share Senator Breckon’s enthusiasm for comprehensive legislation are still not guaranteed a positive outcome. The States might have seen the need for a law 17 years ago, but the new consultation exercise represents a completely fresh start in that it will ask an absolutely fundamental question – is legislation actually necessary?
Anecdotal evidence is always to be treated with caution, but the many stories which circulate concerning instances of sharp or suspect trading practices strongly suggest that the consultation paper’s first question should be answered in very short order.
Meanwhile, just as it is to be hoped that Islanders will take the trouble to consider the consultation paper – which is available on the States website – it is also to be hoped that a coherent picture of the sort of law that the Island requires will begin to emerge.
Senator Breckon has already expressed his fears that the proposals that have been outlined to date do not go far enough, saying that there could be gaps in respect of the regulation of advertising and consumer credit. He also notes the lack of outline provision for a financial services ombudsman.
This last concern is an important one. It remains a paradox that although this Island trades internationally on the strength of its reputation for excellence in the regulation of its financial institutions dealing globally, far less attention is paid to the rights of domestic consumers of financial services.
If, at what is still an early stage, there is an obvious omission from the consumer law that might now be in the making, it must be the lack of plans for an independent avenue of appeal in the area of credit, insurance and other services involving money, where complexity is the rule rather than the exception.
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