Consumer Credit Act 1974

17 Small agreements. U.K.

(1) A small agreement is—

(a) A regulated consumer credit agreement for credit not exceeding [F1 £50], other than a hire-purchase or conditional sale agreement: or

(b) a regulated consumer hire agreement which does not require the hirer to make payments exceeding [F1 £50],

being an agreement which is either unsecured or secured by a guarantee or indemnity only (whether or not the guarantee or indemnity is itself secured).

[F2 (2) For the purposes of paragraph (a) of subsection (1), running-account credit shall be taken not to exceed the amount specified in that paragraph if the credit limit does not exceed that amount.]

(3) Where—

(a) two or more small agreements are made at or about the same time between the same parties, and

(b) it appears probable that they would instead have been made as a single agreement but for the desire to avoid the operation of provisions of this Act which would have applied to that single agreement but, apart from this subsection, are not applicable to the small agreements,

this Act applies to the small agreements as if they were regulated agreements other than small agreements.

(4) If, apart from this subsection, subsection (3) does not apply to any agreements but would apply if, for any party or parties to any of the agreements, there were substituted an associate of that party, or associates of each of those parties, as the case may be, then subsection (3) shall apply to the agreements.

Textual Amendments

F1 "£50" substituted by S.I. 1983/1878, art. 3, Sch. Pt. I

F2 S. 17(2) substituted (1.2.2011) by The Consumer Credit (EU Directive) Regulations 2010 (S.I. 2010/1010), regs. 45, 99(1) (with regs. 100, 101)