Clause 16 - Time orders
Consumer Credit Bill
2:30 pm
Charles Hendry (Shadow Minister, Trade & Industry; Wealden, Conservative)
I am grateful to my hon. Friend and I am grateful for the legal expertise that he brings to the Committee.
On occasion, it might suit the purposes of some people who receive documentation to say that they have not done so. Given that the Bill totally transfers the responsibility on to the lender—they have to produce evidence that the agreement was fair and it is assumed to be unfair unless they can do so—they will have to go to extraordinary lengths to prove that they have done everything possible to fulfil their side of the agreement. I do not believe that their company lawyers will be happy to say, ''You just put a letter in the post in an unmarked, typed envelope.'' I can see the hon. Member for Hastings and Rye (Michael Jabez Foster), who is an esteemed solicitor in the south-east of England, laughing at the back there at the thought that anybody believes that they might get away with that.
The evidence has to be that the companies would feel an obligation to protect themselves from future court cases. They would use recorded delivery and ensure that they have a signature from the person who is affected. They would go to incredible lengths to establish whether somebody was partially sighted or blind or whether they could understand English well enough to know what the letter said. They would ensure that if someone had learning difficulties, they understood the documentation's import.
We need some clarity from the Minister about how this process will be done. At the moment, we are debating these issues in a vacuum and he owes it to the Committee to explain how it will happen.