The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC, is the statutory body responsible for the enforcement of competition and consumer law in the State. The CCPC provides information to consumers on personal finance and consumer rights issues as part of its consumer protection and financial information functions. This information is provided to empower consumers to make more informed decisions and to take action for themselves, if required.
Section 9(5) of the Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014 provides that the CCPC is independent in the performance of its functions, including its day-to-day operational work regarding complaints made to it and I, as Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation, have no direct function in such matters.
Notwithstanding this, the CCPC has provided me with a list of the ten most common consumer complaints received by it in 2018. The following table lists the complaints by category, as well as the number of cases that have been received under each heading.
Issue
|
Volume (Cases)
|
Goods & Services - Faulty
|
8020
|
Contracts - Charges/Payments/Deposits
|
3082
|
Goods & Services - Sale of Goods/Service Issues
|
2529
|
Contracts - Cancellation
|
1925
|
Contracts - Performance Terms and Conditions
|
1518
|
Consumer Rights Directive/ecommerce
|
1370
|
Motor Insurance
|
1258
|
Mortgages
|
1226
|
Pricing
|
857
|
Advertising
|
697
|