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...

COVID-19: FCA and UK measures on consumer credit, overdrafts and mortgages: payment deferrals, tailored support, repossessions and refunds guidance (2020–2021)

Published by a LexisNexis Financial Services expert

Practice notes

To lessen the medium- and long-term economic fallout from actions taken to curb the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, EU Member States have rolled out a wide spectrum of support. Frequently, these include some form of moratorium on credit repayments, aimed at easing borrowers’ short‑term liquidity and operational pressures.

In the UK, lenders and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have introduced measures to assist both consumers and businesses during the pandemic. The FCA has published temporary guidance enabling firms to act at pace to deliver swift, time‑limited support to customers, at unprecedented scale, as the virus and the government’s response continue to evolve. This short‑term help is intended to bridge the crisis and help consumers regain their footing.

This Practice Note

This Practice Note summarises the FCA’s temporary guidance setting out its expectations for firms supporting consumer credit, overdraft, and mortgage customers facing temporary payment difficulties arising from the exceptional circumstances of coronavirus. For consumer credit customers, the principal form of temporary assistance is a payment deferral. It applies to:

credit cards (including store cards and catalogue credit)

The guidance concentrates on rapid, short‑term relief for customers encountering temporary payment strain. Its aim is to help people stabilise and recover...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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