Changes to CCL - tell us your thoughts
Posted on in Business News , Cycles News , Outdoor News
Take part in our survey to help us form an evidence base to present to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) regarding the recent changes to your CCL.
In July this year, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) notified all Consumer Credit Licence holders that responsibility for the regulation of consumer credit activities would be transferring to the FCA from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) with effect from 1 April 2014. As a consequence of this, current licenses issued by the OFT will no longer be valid after 31 March 2014.
As you may be aware, any business that intends to continue offering consumer credit after this date is now required to register with the FCA for an ‘interim permission'. The cost of interim permission is £150 for sole traders and £350 for limited companies, partnerships and other types of businesses. There is currently an "early bird" discount of 30% for businesses applying for interim permission prior to 30 November 2013.
Understandably, this situation is causing considerable anxiety and frustration for our subscribers, with many having already paid in excess of £1200 for an indefinite CCL.
Having recently reported on the growth of the Ride it away scheme (read full story here ) and evidence showing that more customers are prepared to take on credit than they have been in the five years since the financial crisis, we believe that offering finance is a key sales tool for retailers.
Following our recent meeting at the FCA Head Office, our main focus is now to work with the regulator to ensure that the supply of responsibly-provided credit is maintained and made easily accessible to our subscribers.
We believe that the Government and the FCA have not fully understood the impact of the changes on small businesses, and would like to ask for your help in putting together an evidence base to ensure that the new regime is both fair and proportionate for businesses of the kind that are represented across the Ride it away, Slide it away and Take it outdoors retailer networks.
We would be very grateful if you would take a few minutes to complete a short survey to help us understand a bit more about your business/organisation and the consumer credit license you currently hold.
Take part in the survey