A credit agreement sets out the borrowing relationship - but the first task is to identify exactly what type of agreement you have.
Consumer credit covers many products: credit cards, personal loans, hire purchase, fixed-sum loans, running-account credit and now regulated forms of Deferred Payment Credit/BNPL. Different statutory requirements and remedies can apply depending on the product and when it was entered into.
Do not infer the agreement type from a salesperson’s later label. Look at the document, regulated status, parties, amount financed, repayment schedule and how the transaction was presented at the time.
Key points
- Keep the pre-contract information, agreement and execution/confirmation record.
- Identify the creditor, debtor and any supplier separately.
- Check whether the agreement is regulated by the Consumer Credit Act/regulatory regime.
- A service contract and a separate credit agreement can coexist in the same purchase.
What the agreement should help you establish
- Who is lending the money
- What is being financed
- Amount of credit and total payable
- Interest/APR and charges where applicable
- Repayment amounts and dates
- Cancellation/withdrawal rights where applicable
- Consequences of missed payments
- Any security or ownership provisions
Why the document trail matters
Online and in-store transactions can produce multiple documents: an order, pre-contract credit information, a credit agreement, product/service terms and a confirmation email. Preserve them separately. A later statement that “the finance was never active” should be tested against what was actually generated, signed, accepted and communicated.
Regulated Deferred Payment Credit from July 2026
From 15 July 2026 the FCA began regulating qualifying Deferred Payment Credit commonly described as Buy Now Pay Later. Agreements entered into before regulation day can be treated differently, so the date matters.
In practice
- If a dispute turns on whether credit existed, ask for the precise agreement and audit trail rather than debating terminology.
- Check whose name appears as creditor; the retailer may not be the lender.
- Compare the agreement with the order confirmation and payment schedule.
What to do
A practical next-step plan
- Gather every document from the transaction.
- Identify the creditor and agreement reference.
- Check the date and regulatory status.
- Map the credit agreement separately from the goods/service contract.
- Ask for missing executed documents or audit records if existence/acceptance is disputed.
- Use the firm’s complaint process and FOS where the matter falls within the types of complaint it can deal with.
Common traps
Things that often confuse the issue
- Do not assume “interest free” means “not credit”.
- Do not treat a mobile service agreement and device finance as necessarily the same contract.
- Do not rely only on a monthly total; understand what each payment component relates to.
Evidence worth keeping
If you dispute liability, identify the issue precisely.
- No agreement / wrong borrower.
- Terms or amount do not match what was agreed.
- Required information or notice is missing/defective.
- Goods/services funded by the credit were not supplied or were misrepresented.
- Balance includes disputed interest/fees.
- Credit-file reporting does not reflect the true account history.
These issues have different remedies. A documentation defect does not necessarily erase the underlying factual history, and a data correction does not necessarily extinguish a contractual balance.
Regulation can depend on the product and date.
Since 15 July 2026, qualifying third-party Deferred Payment Credit (often described as interest-free BNPL) entered FCA regulation for new agreements. Merchant-provided arrangements and older agreements can fall differently. Device finance, hire purchase, personal loans, running-account credit and point-of-sale finance can also have different statutory mechanics.
Never rely only on the marketing label.
“Flex pay”, “device plan”, “instalments”, “BNPL” or “interest free” describe a product commercially; the legal classification comes from the agreement and regulatory framework.
If the firm says “there was no agreement”, ask what document governed the credit.
Where a customer saw and accepted repayment terms, ask the firm to identify the legal basis on which credit was advanced. If it says a document was only an application, pre-contract illustration or unregulated arrangement, ask for the executed agreement or the evidence showing why no regulated agreement arose. Keep timestamps, e-signature records and checkout/order confirmations.
The point is not to insist that every checkout document is a regulated CCA agreement; it is to make the firm explain coherently what contractual instrument created the obligation it now seeks to enforce.
First establish exactly what agreement you entered.
A credit agreement should be analysed by product, creditor, borrower, amount/limit, term, interest/charges, repayment schedule and whether it is regulated. A retailer, telecom provider or broker may arrange credit supplied by a separate lender, so identify the actual creditor rather than assuming the brand selling the goods is the lender.
| Document | What it establishes |
|---|---|
| Pre-contract information | What was explained before commitment. |
| Executed agreement | Parties, credit, repayments, interest/charges and contractual rights. |
| Welcome/order confirmation | How the purchase and credit were linked operationally. |
| Statements | What was actually advanced, charged and repaid. |
Official sources
Check the rules behind this guide
- Consumer Credit Act 1974 - legislation.gov.uk
- FCA Consumer Credit sourcebook (CONC)
- FCA: Buy Now Pay Later / Deferred Payment Credit ↗
These are official or primary sources for this topic. Rules, scheme terms and deadlines can change, so check the live source before relying on a formal time limit or procedure.