ABSTRACT
The Consumer Credit Act 1974, which entitles the secretary of state to make regulations prescribing information to be disclosed to a consumer prior to entry into a regulated agreement, lay dormant for 30 years. However, the utility of requiring the disclosure of pre-contractual information prior to entry into a credit or hire agreements was eventually recognised and pre-contract disclosure requirements binding on lenders and owners were introduced by reference to the consumer credit Disclosure of Information Regulations 2004. When these regulations were initially promulgated, they applied to all regulated agreements entered into after 31 May 2005. Distance contracts have been regulated since the Consumer Protection Regulations 2000 implementing European Union directive 97/7/EC. These regulations came into force on 31 October 2000. The essence of the regulation was to require certain information to be disclosed pre-contract and to confer a right of cancellation in the case of distance contracts.
