Financial News

NfCG Personal Finance Network Launched

Under the expert guidance of Gerry Lanchin, a long standing member and former Chairman of NfCG's Legislation and Consumer Affairs Committee and a member of the PIA Consumer Panel, this network has sprung into life.

The aim of the Network is to cover every personal finance subject in which we take an interest, and that is a constantly moving target as matters come to our notice. There is usually a period of consultation before financial regulation becomes law but this period is sometimes brief.

The existence of the Network will enable NfCG to mobilise quickly those with the necessary expertise to make informed comment on proposed legislation. We have usually managed to do this well in the past but it will be easier now.

Groups within the Network have been set up to deal with particular matters needing urgent consideration. These include:

The Financial Services and Markets Bill

The Treasury has issued a substantial consultation document in two parts. Part one is an overview of Financial Regulatory Reform and part two is a draft Financial Services and Markets Bill. As closing date for comments is 30th October there is no time to be lost in critically examining it, collecting views and submitting them to the Treasury.

A story in the Guardian for July 23rd contains the above warning. '[he subject under scrutiny was unscrupulous mail shots.

One example caught the Editor's eye because it was a new scam, to him anyway. The circular was franked in central Europe and contained an unconditional 'no strings attached' offer that, for the price of a phone call, the recipient stood an excellent chance of receiving £1600.

This was obviously too good to be true but where was the catch? In the very small print. This said that calls were charged at £1 per minute. Even this was worth it to receive £1600.

John Denham's Green Paper on Pensions

This will be issued soon and the Pensions Group will even now be watching out for it. Another area for them to examine is Group Personal Pensions.

Data Protection Bill.

This is undergoing its Parliamentary process. The Network members who examine Consumer Credit matters will check its progress and examine your right to obtain your records from data Credit Reference Agencies. Rights are given presently under both the Consumer Credit Act and the Data Protection Act. These may be removed from the former by the new Bill.

Mortgages.

The Network members who have an interest in matters covered by the banking and mortgage codes are examining the new Council of Mortgage Lenders Code for Mortgage Intermediaries which comes into effect on September 1st. Matters for investigation include charges imposed when completed mortgages are wound up and excessive charges for early redemption. There are many other matters which will be looked at, given time and resources, such as the OFT Report on Health Insurance and the rather worrying reports that insurance companies are excluding loss due to the Millennium Bug!

But no-one has ever been known to win anything like that sum. Enquiry is difficult as there was no name or address on the circular nor a normal phone number.

The people who responded to this circular heard a recorded message telling them, four times, to match a personal number to fourteen laboriously listed prizes, then listen for the vital payout number and address to which to write to claim the prize, all listed at the end of the message. The whole message lasted 7 minutes, at, remember, £1 per minute. Three fifths of the £7 goes to the company which instigated the phone line.

Business Sponsorship of Consumer Organisations

A fringe meeting at Consumer Congress organised by the National Consumer Council (NCC).
Speakers: Ruth Evans Director of NCC
Julian Edwards Director of Consumers International
Bob Gale Chairman of NfCG

The speakers and the contributors from the floor all agreed that sponsorship should not be sought or accepted unless the receiving organisation remained transparently independent, free from any influence from the sponsors and with integrity intact. It was recognised,

however, that support from businesses, within a bridge building philosophy, was becoming more acceptable if there were genuine benefits for the consumer and no strings attached.

The recent partnership support from some of NfCG's Corporate Associates in helping to cover the cost of editions of 'Consumer News' was recognised as a good example of an initiative that helped a consumer organisation without affecting its integrity.

Bob Gale

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