Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Consumer definition

What does Consumer mean? A consumer is, in practice, an individual who acquires goods, services or digital content for personal use, not for the purposes of a trade, business, craft or profession. The precise meaning is statutory and context‑specific. England & Wales and Scotland: The Consumer Rights Act 2015, s2(3), defines a consumer as an individual acting for purposes wholly or mainly outside their trade, business, craft or profession (capturing mixed‑purpose purchases where the business purpose is not predominant). The Unfair Contract Terms Act 1977 instead asks whether a party “deals as consumer”, a distinct test relevant to exclusion and limitation clauses. The Sale of...

UK Consumer Credit Regulation under the FCA: Scope, Activities, Agreements, Firm Authorisation, Consumer Duty, Enforcement and Reform

Published by a LexisNexis Financial Services expert

Practice notes

On 1 April 2014, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) took over responsibility for Consumer credit regulation from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), which then closed. From that point, the FCA became the conduct supervisor for all regulated businesses in the consumer credit space, including (among others) consumer lenders, credit card providers, debt management firms and intermediaries. This Practice Note outlines the key components of the FCA’s regulatory framework for the consumer credit sector and directs readers to further detailed Practice Notes and principal legislative materials.

Scope, perimeter and exemptions What is ‘consumer credit’ and when is it regulated?

To fall within the UK consumer credit regime, a lender must be party to a ‘regulated credit agreement’. A ‘regulated credit agreement’ is determined by reference to a ‘credit agreement’. A ‘credit agreement’ is an arrangement between an individual or relevant recipient of credit (A) and any other person (B) under which B provides A with credit of any amount. Section 9(1) of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 (CCA 1974) and the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Regulated Activities) Order 2001, SI 2001/544, art 60L (the RAO) define ‘credit’ as a cash loan and any other form of financial...

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Web page updated on 27/05/2026

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