Consumers' Association

Consumers' Association

The Consumers' Association is the umbrella organisation that houses the trading arm Which? Ltd. The Consumers' Association is a charity, registered in England and Wales No 296072. Which? Ltd is its wholly owned trading subsidiary.

Which? is independent and is funded by subscription. It does not take funding from government or companies and there is no advertising in its magazines or websites.

Which? is a not-for-profit organisation. 75% of the income it makes funds its print and online publications and subscriber services. The remaining 25% is used to fund consumer projects to make people's live fairer, simpler and safer.[1]

Which? is based in the UK and was founded in 1957 by Michael Young in a garage in Bethnal Green, London. Which? has over 1.2 million subscribers.[2]

The Which? mission is to make individuals as powerful as the organisations they have to deal with in their daily lives.

Contents

Policy, consultation and parliamentary lobbying

Which? identifies where consumers are experiencing problems and provides practical policy solutions. Which? regularly briefs MPs, Peers, AMs, MLAs, MSPs and MEPs on consumer issues, addressing consumer detriment at a National, European and International level.

UK Government

Which? is in regular communication with politicians of all political parties in order to deliver positive change for UK consumers. For example, Which? successfully lobbied to put an end to the '65 day rule' that allowed energy companies to wait 65 days before informing their customers of a price change.[3]

Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Which?'s 'campaigns and magazines have transformed the world in which we live'.[4]

Which? joined forces with Rt Hon David Davis (British politician) MP, Rt Hon John McFall MP and Dr Vince Cable MP, to form The Future of Banking Commission, which launched its recommendations in June 2010.

Scotland

In January 2002, Which? established an office in Edinburgh to strengthen lobbying work with members of the Scottish parliament.

European Union

Which? aims to put itself at the heart of EU policy and decision-making processes to ensure the voices of UK consumers are heard and, where necessary, influence international negotiations.

It works with European sister organisation, the European Consumers' Association (BEUC)[5] which brings together over forty consumer organisations from across Europe to represent common consumer interests to the EU institutions.

Legal powers

Super-complaints

The Enterprise Act of 2002 enabled consumer organisations such as Which? to issue super-complaints to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).

Which? is one of eight organisations able to issue a super-complaint. The Consumers' Association was among the first groups granted these new powers. A super-complaint can be made about any market that is not working properly for consumers. As consumers are not in the position to overcome the issue themselves, Which? can issue a super-complaint on consumers' behalf.

The OFT has 90 days in which to assess the complaint and decide what to do about it. It can reject the complaint in part or as a whole, it can launch a market investigation, take action under competition law or consumer law, or refer the market to the Competition Commission for further investigation.

Which? made its first super complaint about private dentistry in 2001.[6] It has since made complaints about care homes, the Northern Ireland banking sector and credit card interest calculation methods.

Its latest super complaint[7] (March 2011) relates to unfair debit and credit card payment surcharges issued by retailers. The OFT upheld the super-complaint in June 2011, described as a 'victory for consumers' by Which? chief executive, Peter Vicary Smith.[8]

Legal action against rogue traders

In 2005 Which? was granted legal powers to bring rogue traders to account for their actions under Part 8 of the Enterprise Act 2002.

Unfair contract terms

Which? has statutory powers under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999. Which? can seek an injunction to restrain the use of an unfair contract term by a trader against consumers.

Competition Appeals Tribunal

Which? is one of the 'specified bodies' who, under the Enterprise and Competition Acts, may bring proceedings before the Competition Appeals Tribunal (CAT) on behalf of two or more consumers for damages.

Which? was granted specified body status on October 1 2005 by the Ministers of the Department of Trade and Industry. In April 2007 Which? launched its first representative action on behalf of consumers unlawfully overcharged for football shirts due to price fixing.

Organisational structure

The Consumers’ Association is made up of a board who report to a council of trustees. The corporate management group, who run the day-to-day management of Which? Ltd, report to the Consumers Association and ensure the organisation is properly run in the charity's interest.

Council and members

The organisation is governed by a Council of 12 elected and six co-opted members. Patrick Barwise is the current chairman.

Any Which? member can stand for the Council, with Which? subscriber Roger Pittock elected in 2003, for instance. None of the Council or Board members are paid, although they are entitled to claim reasonable expenses.

Council members

  • Mark Addison
  • Patrick Barwise
  • Anthony Burton (Deputy Chairman)
  • Neville Duncan
  • Margaret Ginman
  • Tanya Heasman
  • Sue Leggate
  • Natalie Macdonald
  • Roger Pittock
  • Paul Preston
  • Richard Thomas (Deputy Chairman)
  • Alison Thorne
  • Gary Waller
  • Steve Woolgar
  • John Zealley

Which? campaigns

Which? campaigns on personal finance, energy, technology and food and health issues. Consumers help form Which?'s campaigning agenda. The Which? campaigns website[9] explains the organisation's latest lobbying positions, documents progress and explains how consumers can get involved.

See also

External links

  1. ^ See http://www.which.co.uk/about-which/what-we-do/campaign-with-you
  2. ^ Which? annual report 2009-2010 http://www.which.co.uk/documents/pdf/annual-report-2009-2010-233892.pdf
  3. ^ The Times http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/money/consumer_affairs/article7027970.ece
  4. ^ "Which? magazine", May 2009. P.4-5
  5. ^ BEUC website http://www.beuc.org/Content/Default.asp
  6. ^ See http://www.oft.gov.uk/OFTwork/markets-work/super-complaints/dentistry
  7. ^ See http://www.oft.gov.uk/OFTwork/markets-work/super-complaints/which-payment-surcharges
  8. ^ See http://www.which.co.uk/news/2011/06/consumer-victory-as-oft-uphold-which-super-complaint--257422/
  9. ^ See http://www.which.co.uk/campaigns/

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