There is already consumer protection legislation in place that protects consumers when dealing with traders, including car hire firms. The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 (CPRs) prohibit traders from engaging in unfair commercial practices, such as providing false or deceptive information or descriptions to consumers or leaving out material information.<\/p>
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Local authority trading standards services and the Competition and Markets Authority enforce the CPRs, and breaches of the legislation can be reported to the Citizens Advice consumer helpline on 03454 04 05 06 in the first instance.<\/p>
<\/p>
In addition, the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 (CCRs) require traders entering into distance and online contracts to provide consumers with a range of pre-purchase information in a clear and comprehensive manner, including any additional costs and how they will be calculated.<\/p>
<\/p>
Finally, the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA) provides a wide range of protections for consumers, including restricting the use of unfair terms in consumer contracts. Under the CRA, an \u2018unfair term\u2019 is defined as one which, contrary to the requirements of good faith, causes a significant imbalance in the parties\u2019 rights and obligations under the contract to the detriment of the consumer. If a court decides a term is unfair, it will not be binding on the consumer.<\/p>
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A term, such as the price and the main subject matter, may be exempted from the assessment of fairness if it is transparent and prominent (expressed in plain and intelligible language and legible) and brought to the consumer\u2019s attention in such a way as the average consumer would be aware of it.<\/p>
<\/p>
The consumer protection legislation referred to implements EU legislation which applies in all other member states.<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3995", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Nick Boles"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Grantham and Stamford"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Nick Boles"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2016-06-14", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "previousAnswerVersion" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/523369/answer/previousversion/3431", "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/3995", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Nick Boles"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "Grantham and Stamford"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Nick Boles"} } , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2016-06-14T13:02:38.813Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "26"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Innovation and Skills"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "Business, Innovation and Skills"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2016-06-07", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Cars: Hire Services"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to (a) improve the transparency of car hire firms and (b) ensure people hiring cars are not incorrectly charged for damage to such cars.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1409", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "East Londonderry"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Gregory Campbell"} ], "uin" : "39638"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/523395", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "HM Treasury"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/523395/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The government is committed to launching a retail sale of Lloyds Banking Group shares and to fully returning its stake to the private sector in 2016-17.<\/p>
<\/p>
Those applying to invest less than £1,000 will be prioritised. Members of the public will be offered a discount on the market price and, to encourage long term share ownership, investors who hold their shares for more than a year will be entitled to bonus shares.<\/p>
<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4107", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Dame Harriett Baldwin"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "West Worcestershire"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Harriett Baldwin"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2016-06-13", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2016-06-13T15:09:33.933Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "14"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "CaTreasury"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2016-06-07", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Lloyds Banking Group: Government Shareholding"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to launch the next Lloyds Bank share offer; and what incentives he plans to include in that offer to encourage small shareholders to retain shares that they purchase.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1409", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "East Londonderry"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Gregory Campbell"} ], "uin" : "39642"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/523396", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "HM Treasury"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/523396/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
Each year HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) carry out rigorous assurance testing of the annual issue of tax codes to ensure a high level of accuracy. For 2016-17 the accuracy of annual PAYE coding notices, (based on information that HMRC receives during the year), is around 99 per cent.<\/p>
HMRC have developed the new online Personal Tax Account which gives customers the ability to review their own personal tax status and encourages them to keep HMRC updated on changes in their personal circumstances to ensure even more customers are paying the correct tax at the right time.<\/p>
<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1529", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr David Gauke"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "South West Hertfordshire"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Mr David Gauke"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2016-06-13", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2016-06-13T14:11:01.29Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "14"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "CaTreasury"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2016-06-07", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Taxation"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure people are not assigned incorrect tax codes.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1409", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "East Londonderry"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Gregory Campbell"} ], "uin" : "39639"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/523397", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "HM Treasury"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/523397/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
This government is committed to ensuring that older people are able to live with the dignity and respect they deserve and the State Pension is the foundation of state support for older people. That is why the government has committed to increasing the State Pension by the triple lock, with someone on a full basic State Pension receiving around £570 more in 2016-17 than if it had been uprated by average earnings since the start of the last Parliament.<\/p>
<\/p>
In total, the government will spend around £95 billion on the State Pension in 2016-17.<\/p>
<\/p>"} , "answeringMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/4107", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Dame Harriett Baldwin"} } , "answeringMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "West Worcestershire"} , "answeringMemberPrinted" : {"_value" : "Harriett Baldwin"} , "dateOfAnswer" : {"_value" : "2016-06-13", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "isMinisterialCorrection" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "questionFirstAnswered" : [{"_value" : "2016-06-13T15:13:23.57Z", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} ]} , "answeringDeptId" : {"_value" : "14"} , "answeringDeptShortName" : {"_value" : "Treasury"} , "answeringDeptSortName" : {"_value" : "CaTreasury"} , "date" : {"_value" : "2016-06-07", "_datatype" : "dateTime"} , "hansardHeading" : {"_value" : "Older People: Payments"} , "houseId" : {"_value" : "1"} , "legislature" : [{"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/terms/25259", "prefLabel" : {"_value" : "House of Commons"} } ], "questionText" : "To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will introduce a payment of £1,000 to each person reaching the age of 100.", "registeredInterest" : {"_value" : "false", "_datatype" : "boolean"} , "tablingMember" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/members/1409", "label" : {"_value" : "Biography information for Mr Gregory Campbell"} } , "tablingMemberConstituency" : {"_value" : "East Londonderry"} , "tablingMemberPrinted" : [{"_value" : "Mr Gregory Campbell"} ], "uin" : "39641"} , {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/523639", "AnsweringBody" : [{"_value" : "Department for Transport"} ], "answer" : {"_about" : "http://data.parliament.uk/resources/523639/answer", "answerText" : {"_value" : "
The revised industry fuel standard for petrol (EN228), agreed and published by the British Standards Institution in 2013, allows up to ten per cent bioethanol content (known as \u2018E10\u2019). However, E10 is not yet on general sale in the UK and whether to supply it is a commercial decision for suppliers.<\/p>
<\/p>
The Transport Energy Task Force, made up of experts from industry and environmental NGOs, reported its findings to the Department for Transport in March 2015. The report, which included recommendations relating to E10, is available on the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership\u2019s website at:<\/p>