Consumer Affairs Branch

Consumer Affairs Branch comprises the Trading Standards Service and Consumerline along with sections dealing with legislation, administration support, policy and debt advice. The Department continues to provide a free to use face to face debt advice service through a contract with the Citizens Advice for the three years starting 1 April 2008. The advice is provided at participating local Citizens Advice offices.

Trading Standards Service

The role of the Trading Standards Service is to promote and maintain fair trading, protect consumers and enable reputable businesses to thrive within Northern Ireland. We do this by enforcing a wide range of consumer legislation in order to protect consumers and honest businesses. We will also give advice to businesses in order to help them comply with the law.

Consumerline

Consumerline is a telephone and online advice service for Northern Ireland.

Our telephone advisors will listen to each caller's query and provide clear, practical advice on a wide range of consumer issues. If it is appropriate we will forward details of your complaint to the Trading Standards Service for investigation.

To contact Consumerline, telephone 0845 600 6262 (or 028 9025 3900) or log on to our website at www.consumerline.org

Review of regulation of Store and Credit Card Agreements - A Consultation

The Office of Fair Trading has launched a consultation that sets out options for change that cover four specific aspects of the way credit and store cards operate:

·the allocation of payments;

·minimum payments;

·unsolicited credit limit increases; and

·the re-pricing of existing debt.

It also identifies scope to improve the simplicity and transparency of credit and store cards more generally.
Options range from taking no action to banning some of the four aspects of credit and store cards identified above.

To have your say click here to take you to the relevant page on the OFT's website."