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Consumer empowerment what’s next?

consumer debate

In response to government proposals for major changes to the consumer landscape, Citizens Advice teamed up with the National Consumer Federation (NCF) to host a debate about consumer empowerment on 7 March.

With household budgets coming under strain, it is essential that consumers have the skills and confidence to make the right decisions for them. Not only is this best for the individual, it also helps build a strong economy with consumers spending an incredible £900 billion a year.

But when things go wrong, consumers can find it difficult knowing which way to turn with a bewildering array of consumer bodies to choose from. The Government plans to streamline these and wants the Citizens Advice service to take on responsibility for all non-financial consumer education, information and advice as well as campaigning for improvements to national policy.

"We want to see confident, empowered consumers able to get the best deals, demand better products and services and resolve problems when things sometimes go wrong.”
Ed Davey MP

The debate

This debate saw 200 delegates from government, consumer groups, business and charities gather to discuss how we can work together to ensure consumers are empowered and what impact the government proposals will have.

Speakers covered every aspect of consumer behaviour, rights and policy and  included Ed Davey MP, Minister for Employment Relations, Consumer and Postal Affairs.

A fundamental part of the debate focused on shifting the balance of power from businesses to consumers. Giving consumers access to more and better information at an earlier stage was identified as one way of achieving this, but it doesn’t go far enough: having the potential to make good consumer decisions doesn’t necessarily mean people will.

Sufficient resources also need to be in place to ensure people get the encouragement and help they need to be truly empowered and able to make confident and informed decisions. Regulation is clearly necessary alongside to provide a means of back-up when things go wrong. And we mustn’t forget that businesses themselves need to play their part in this as well as public and voluntary sector bodies.

When we are empowered, everybody wins. Consumers joining together and sharing information have the power to vote with their feet, squeezing out rogue traders to make way for better quality services. This is not only good news for consumers but also for responsible businesses and the economy as a whole.

To hear from speakers and find out more about the debate:

"The Citizens Advice service is a respected brand served by a network of volunteers who people really trust. In many ways, they are one of the best examples of the Big Society in action.”
Ed Davey MP

What we are doing

During 2009/10, Citizen Advice Bureaux dealt with 431,000 consumer issues enabling us to identify when consumers are getting a raw deal. Using our case-based evidence to campaign for improvements meant over 9 million people benefitted from all our policy work.

One example of our work is the latest briefing 'Cashing in' which highlights the experience of CAB clients who have been ripped off by loan-finding firms. Some of these firms are offering to help people get an unsecured loan, often by cold calling them, but at a cost. All too often the loan either never appears or charges extortionate rates of interest, particularly affecting people who are already in financial difficulty.
But by then it’s too late and people are already out of pocket and finding it almost impossible to get their money back. Our evidence has now been submitted to the Office of Fair Trading as a ‘super complaint’ with a view to getting cold calling and up front fees banned.

What you can do

Have you been contacted by a loan finding firm who have charged you a fee to find a loan?

If you have, your story can help us to stop more people getting ripped off: