ACM takes action against two businesses for attracting customers for commercial debt counselors
The Netherlands Authority for Consumers and Markets (ACM) has taken action against two businesses that attract customers for commercial debt counselors. On their websites, it was not clear that this concerned commercial debt counseling. As a result, consumers could erroneously think that these were counselors that worked for municipalities, and were therefore free of charge. After ACM’s interventions, the websites of Schuldhulpverlening-Nederland.nl were taken down. The other provider, www.schuldsanering.help, clarified the information that its services cost money. As people with debts are often in vulnerable positions, businesses that target this group must take that into consideration.
Edwin van Houten, Director of ACM’s Consumer Department, adds: “Individuals with debts are entitled to a free debt counseling plan from the municipality they live in. Commercial providers that target these individuals anyway must explicitly state that their offer is not free of charge. With the businesses that we just reprimanded, it seemed as if you were on the municipality’s website. As a result, individuals could unwittingly end up with a commercial provider, meaning they had to incur costs. This form of deception has now been taken away.”
Rules when offering debt counseling services
In early June, ACM received reports about websites for commercial debt counselors. Those websites were reportedly not clear about the fact that they charged for their counseling services. In addition, it looked as if they had been commissioned by the municipality. On their websites, they showed pages sorted by city with information about the municipal debt counseling services. However, it was not clearly stated that, if they filled out the contact form on the website, consumers would not be directed to the municipality. Consumers were subsequently contacted by a commercial provider.
After ACM had confronted the two businesses behind these websites, one of these businesses (the one behind the websites Schuldhupverlening-Nederland.nl and Schuldhulpverlening.direct) decided to take down its websites. The other business (behind the website www.schuldsanering.help (external website) ) adjusted its information in such a way that it is now clearer to consumers that they will be referred to commercial providers. In addition, this website now also directs them to websites of municipalities, so that consumers can also turn to them.
Last year, ACM pointed out the consumer protection rules to commercial debt counselors. For example, they have to be clear about who they are, what they offer, and the costs they charge for their services. ACM subsequently checked websites for those aspects.
Consumers can file their reports with ACM’s consumer information portal ACM ConsuWijzer.