Credit Agencies must be licensed.

In addition, if you are a business who has a credit service, for example if you are a shop who offers store cards or if you ever give customers time to pay, then you will need a licence.

The Office of Fair Trade issues licences. There are many different regulations which you must comply with and these will depend on the type of business you run. They can provide details to the public about its licensed businesses, such as the type of activities they cover, their authorised trading names and main business address.

Visit the Consumer Information section of the Office of Fair Trading website for details.

Law

The main legislation is the Consumer Credit Act 1974. Refer to the Office of Fair Trading for more details.