HIRE-PURCHASE

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLV, Issue 21304, 25 March 1939, Page 6

HIRE-PURCHASE

GUARDING THE CUSTOMER LONDON, February’ 20. Persons who buy goods on the instalment plan are protected against unscrupulous merchants under the new Hire-Purchase Act which went into effect in Great Britain in January. If a customer has paid one-third the total cost of the commodity and falls into arrears in following payments, the merchant cannot seize it without resorting to court action. The law affects some 5,000.000 persons who are buying furniture and clothing on the instalment plan, as well as millions more who are purchasing other commodities. The Act, which implements previous restrictions on the seizure of goods not completely paid for, makes it illegal for the merchant or his agents to enter a home and take possession of goods bought on the instalment plan. Should a company seize goods in violation of this law the purchaser would be released from further payments and entitled to a refund of the money already paid. Before the contract of purchase is made the company must inform the buyer of the cash price. The -Act also provides protection for merchants against abuses of his contract. During the preliminary debate on the bill, it was disclosed that there was a daily average of 600 seizures of goods on which payments had not been completed.