The Commerce Commission has discontinued High Court proceedings with finance company Linsa Finance Limited after signing a settlement agreement.

Linsa has agreed to return $350,000 to approximately 900 current and former borrowers, for failing to disclose key information required required under the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003.

Linsa Finance has offices in Manurewa and Tauranga, offering secured and unsecured personal loans of up to about $4,000.

The company accepted that 1,721 of its loan contracts between 6 June 2015 and 29 March 2016, failed to include:

• an accurate statement of the borrower’s cancellation rights
• any statement of the borrower’s right to apply for relief on grounds of unforeseen hardship, and how to do so
• the frequency with which continuing disclosure statements would be made
• the name and contact details of Linsa’s dispute resolution scheme
• Linsa’s registration details on the Financial Services Providers Register

The Commission became aware of these omissions when it undertook a review of third tier lenders’ contracts in early 2016.