OFT Visits & Audits

Typically the Office of Fair Trading will undertake a visit to your business premises to conduct an audit where it is assessing a licence application, or where it has received complaints or other intelligence to suggest that a licensed business is operating in a non-compliant manner,.  However on occasions audits are also conducted as part of sector reviews or general compliance assessment.

In conducting an audit the Office of Fair Trading consider a wide range of matters including the fitness of the owners and controllers, the system of control within the business which ensures that employees, agents and contracted third parties are competent, the client documentation used by the business, the method and content of marketing, the arrangements for complaint handling, and the general practices of the business in dealing with its customers.

The powers of the Office of Fair Trading are contained in legislation and predominantly in the Consumer Credit Act 1974 with regard to consumer credit businesses.  As well as conducting audits it may also request information by way of notice, conduct an observation of your business in operation, and obtain a search warrant if it believes that a business will not comply with its requests or if information and documents are likely to be hidden from it.                   

It is important that you are adequately prepared if your business is about to be audited; you should think about your due diligence systems and what records you hold to demonstrate that your business is compliant.  Think about conducting a pre-audit to ensure that everything is as it should be within your business.

If you need help in meeting your compliance obligations or you are facing enforcement action that could jeopardise your licence please visit www.scottrobertllp.com for professional support or contact Scott Robert LLP on 0844 736 5327.