The Consumer Credit Act, 1995, which came into effect on 13 May 1996, allocated responsibility for authorising credit intermediaries to the Director of Consumer Affairs. The Act defines a credit intermediary as a person, other than a credit institution or a mortgage lender, who in the course of his business, arranges or offers to arrange for a consumer the provision of credit or the letting of goods in return for a commission, payment or consideration of any kind from the provider of the credit or the owner, as the case may be.
A considerable number of credit intermediaries currently authorised by the Director operate in the retail motor trade. The Act obliges a motor trader who, being an authorised credit intermediary, arranges finance for a customer to purchase a car, to disclose certain information to the customer before any agreement regarding the purchase is entered into. The information which the motor trader is required to disclose includes the fact that the seller receives a commission, payment or consideration of any kind for arranging any such financial accommodation between the consumer and the undertaking.
I have no knowledge of secret commission payments in the financing of car purchases. Any breaches of the relevant requirements as set out in the Consumer Credit Act, 1995, are a matter for the Director of Consumer Affairs, who has assured me that her office will vigorously pursue any specific complaints in this area.