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Referral fees for personal injury claims will no longer be permitted from April 2013 onwards, whether they are received from brokers, claims management companies, repairers, credit hire organisations, insurers or other organisations.This includes a ban on any non-monetary inducement as well as on cash payments. The ban will apply to any claim that has a personal injury element.

Provision for the ban is contained in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Bill, with the Government citing the adverse effect on consumers’ insurance premiums as a major justification for the move.

Failing to observe the ban will not be a criminal offence, but is likely to mean the firm is the subject of enforcement action from relevant regulators, such as the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) or the Ministry of Justice. The SRA published a discussion paper on the proposals is June 2012, and received a number of responses expressing concern about whether it could effectively enforce the ban.

The SRA has now launched a consultation, which runs until December 18 2012, on how it should implement, supervised and enforce the ban.

It has been highlighted that the move is likely to mean that personal injury firms become takeover targets. Another consequence of the ban could be that personal injury firms will form partnerships with solicitors who practise this area of law by way of an Alternative Business Structure.

Those operating in the personal injury market should ensure they have a business model that will remain permissible after the referral fee ban.

From early 2013, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) will be handed the power to suspend firms’ Consumer Credit Licences with immediate effect in certain cases. The OFT regulates consumer credit in the United Kingdom and requires all firms engaged in credit activities to hold a licence. The OFT can decide to revoke a licence in case of a breach of the Consumer Credit Act, a failure to treat customers fairly, or a criminal conviction. However, all firms are entitled to appeal to the First-Tier Tribunal against the removal of their licence. During the 28 day period in which they can decide whether to appeal and throughout the appeal process, the firm’s licence remains in force, even though the appeal process may take up to two years.

In July 2012, Treasury minister Mark Hoban and consumer minister Norman Lamb announced plans to allow the OFT to remove the licence immediately in cases where there is an urgent need to protect customers. Consultation will take place in autumn 2012 as to how the OFT’s new power will be applied in practice.

UK society does operate on an ‘innocent until proven guilty’ basis, however if the regulator has found such serious failings in a firm that it believes the licence should be removed, is it fair to customers to allow the firm to continue as if nothing had happened? Convicted criminals are often allowed to appeal against sentences for serious crimes, but they cannot postpone their custodial sentence until the appeal has completed.

“This will put a stop to those companies who exploit vulnerable consumers whilst dragging matters through a slow legal process,” said Mr Lamb. “It will also give a boost to legitimate businesses, with the swift suspension of unscrupulous traders. The new measure is part of a concerted approach to strengthen protection around consumer credit, including issues such as payday lending and debt management. We want to encourage, and give the tools to, consumers to take sensible decisions.”

Payday lender MCO Capital Ltd was stripped of its Consumer Credit Licence and fined £544,505 by the OFT in August 2012, yet continued trading for several weeks as it exercised its right to have 28 days to decide whether to appeal.

Other recent cases where the OFT has revoked a licence include Sunderland-based money lender Kevin Duke, who used the trading name ‘Mr Superloan’, in July 2012; and East London-based second charge mortgage lender Reddy Corporation, owned by Dharam Gopee, in August 2012.

The new OFT powers will be granted via an amendment to the Financial Services Bill, a Bill which will bring about wide-ranging changes in financial services regulation. It is highly likely that the Bill will result in the new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)  taking over consumer credit regulation from the OFT, however the Government has said that this will only happen, “if and when it has identified a model of FCA regulation that is proportionate for the different segments of the consumer credit market.”

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) Annual Report, published in June 2012, details the extent of the disciplinary action taken against consumer credit firms.

The most striking statistic is that since the OFT conducted its review of the debt management sector in September 2010, 90 debt management companies have either been stripped of their Consumer Credit Licence or had applications for licences rejected. All 11 firms who appealed these decisions to the First-Tier Tribunal were unsuccessful. The report makes specific reference to the withdrawal of the licence from Parkgate UK Ltd, after it sent a threatening letter to a debt collection firm.

Enforcement action of one kind or another was taken by the OFT against 106 credit firms in the 12 months from 1 April 2011 to March 31 2012 – the period covered by the Report – which included further action against debt managers. Debt management companies exist to assist consumers in serious debt difficulty to improve their situation, yet at the end of 2010 the OFT felt it necessary to warn 129 such firms about their practices. Misleading unsolicited mailings and use of misleading trading names were some of the reasons the OFT intervened against debt management firms.

Revised guidance for debt management firms was issued in March 2012. This guidance spelt out that the OFT believed that the following practices were unfair:

• Sending unsolicited marketing texts or e-mails
• Having staff remuneration schemes that may encourage them to give unsuitable advice
• Falsely implying that the firm was a charity or helpline

Enforcement actions in other areas of consumer credit saw Yes Loans, a large unsecured credit broker; and Log Book Loans, the UK’s largest logbook loan company, become of the biggest firms to lose their licence. 19 unlicensed lead generation websites targeting vulnerable and sub-prime credit borrowers were closed down by the OFT during the year.

The OFT also responded to a super-complaint from Citizens Advice, regarding the marketing and charging practices of credit brokers, where the key areas of concern were up-front fees and cold calling. This prompted the OFT to revise its guidance for credit brokers, imposing new requirements regarding fees, commission disclosure and the right to refunds; and to recommend new legislation prohibiting up-front fees.

New guidance for credit businesses when dealing with borrowers with mental capacity limitations was also published.

The payday lending sector has attracted much criticism from consumer groups and politicians, and the report revealed that the OFT has launched a compliance review of this sector, and threating to withdraw the licence of certain lenders. The OFT will visit 50 major payday lenders, and has already reviewed over 50 payday lending websites and written to relevant trade bodies requesting improvements to these sites.

According to the OFT, it delivered a benefit to the taxpayer over the year of an estimated £402 million, compared to a cost to the taxpayer of £49 million.