Commerce Commission Releases Consumer Credit Fee Guidelines

The New Zealand Commerce Commission has today released its Consumer Credit Fees Guidelines, to provide guidance for lenders in setting credit fees.

The guidelines describe the Commission’s view on how lenders should approach setting their fees in order to comply with the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003 (CCCF Act), which requires credit fees charged by lenders to be reasonable.

To review these guidelines, please click here.

The Commission advises that "They (the Guidelines) set out the general principles that lenders should take into account and give examples of how these principles might apply in practice. They also give guidance on whether or not particular types of costs can be included in fees. The guidelines are not exhaustive, nor are they intended to be legally binding. They contain examples intended to be indicative, to illustrate how fees might apply in realistic hypothetical situations".