ABSTRACT
This chapter presents the key concepts underlying the whole law of consumer credit. A consumer credit agreement is an agreement concluded between a lender and the borrower, being an individual for the provision of credit of any amount. It embraces both regulated agreements and exempt agreements for the purposes of the Regulated Activities Order (RAO). The Consumer Credit Act 1974 uses the terms creditor and debtor, and not lender and borrower, but the RAO uses the latter terminology. The borrower under a consumer credit agreement must be an individual. The credit agreements concluded with borrowers who are not individuals are entirely outside the ambit of the act. The natural meaning of the term individual is that of a natural person but it has an extended meaning under the Consumer Credit Act 1974. The lender with whom the consumer credit agreement is concluded can of course be either an individual or body corporate.
