Final guidance on consumer lending

The Government has published guidance on reasonable conduct in the consumer credit sector in order to support Islanders who have or may be considering borrowing to help alleviate financial difficulties which have arisen due to the Covid-19 pandemic.　

In June, the Government published draft guidance on reasonable conduct in the consumer credit sector. The draft guidance aimed to help those who were thinking about borrowing if they were struggling financially due to Covid-19 and those struggling to meet payments on existing loans.

A consultation was launched at the same time and now, based on feedback, amendments have been made to create the final guidance which outlines appropriate steps that businesses and their customers should take when people are facing financial difficulty.

The final guidance outlines appropriate steps for consumers and providers in the following areas:

• Lending to consumers
• Loan brokerage or referral
• Debt counselling
• Debt collection

The guidance, from Connétable Richard Buchanan, Assistant Minister for External Relations with responsibility for financial services, said: "I am grateful for those who took time to respond to this consultation, following which a number of positive changes have been made. I encourage consumers and businesses in the local credit market to consider the guidance, and work together to find solutions to help those facing financial difficulties."

The final guidance and feedback statement are available here.