Legislation for Consumer Protection

Legislation relevant to the Central Bank of Ireland’s role in relation to the protection of consumers of financial services includes:

• Central Bank Act 1942
• Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013
• Consumer Protection Act 2007
• Building Societies Act 1989
• Building Societies (Amendment) Act 2006
• Consumer Credit Act 1995
• Consumer Protection (Regulation of Credit Servicing Firms) Act 2015
• Investment Intermediaries Act 1995
• Credit Union Act 1997
• Investor Compensation Act 1998
• S.I. No. 359 of 1994 European Communities (Non-Life Insurance) Framework Regulations 1994
• S.I. No. 360 of 1994 European Communities (Life Assurance) Framework Regulations 1994
• S.I. No 27 of 1995 European Communities (Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts) Regulations 1995
• S.I. No. 15 of 2001 Life Assurance (Provision of Information) Regulations 2001
• S.I. No. 853 of 2004 European Communities (Distance Marketing of Consumer Financial Services) Regulations 2004
• S.I. No. 13 of 2005 European Communities (Insurance Mediation) Regulations 2005
• S.I. No 60 of 2007 European Communities (Markets in Financial Instruments) Regulations 2007
• S.I. No. 74 of 2007 Non-Life Insurance (Provision of Information) (Renewal of Policy of Insurance) Regulations 2007
• S.I. No. 383 of 2009 European Communities (Payment Services) Regulations 2009
• S.I. No 183 of 2010 European Communities (Cross-Border Payments) Regulations 2010
• S.I. No. 281 of 2010 European Communities (Consumer Credit Agreements) Regulations 2010
• S.I. No. 183 of 2011 European Communities (Electronic Money) Regulations 2011
• S.I. No 352 of 2011 European Communities (Undertakings for Collective Investment in Transferable Securities) Regulations 2011
• S.I. No 257 of 2013 European Union (Alternative Investment Fund Managers) Regulations 2013
• S.I. No 585 of 2015 Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013 (Section 48) (Lending to Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises) Regulations 2015
• S.I. No 142 of 2016 European Union (Consumer Mortgage Credit Agreements) Regulations 2016
• S.I. No 280 of 2016 Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013 (Section 48) (Lending to Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises) (Amendment) Regulations 2016
• S.I. No 482 of 2016 European Union (Payment Accounts) Regulations 2016
• S.I. No. 392 of 2017 Life Assurance (Provision of Information) (Amendment) Regulations 2017

The Life Assurance (Provision of Information) (Amendment) Regulations 2017 amend Regulation 7 of the Life Assurance (Provision of Information) Regulations 2001 due to the coming into effect of the EU Regulation on key information documents for packaged retail and insurance-based investment products (the PRIIPs Regulation) on 1 January 2018. The Statutory Instrument disapplies Regulation 7(2) of the Life Assurance (Provision of Information) Regulations 2001 for products that also fall within the scope of the PRIIPs Regulation.

• S.I. No. 577 of 2018 Non-Life Insurance (Provision of Information) (Renewal of Policy of Insurance) (Amendment) Regulations 2018

• S.I. No. 436 of 2021 Non-life Insurance (Provision of Information) (Amendment) Regulations 2021

The Non-life Insurance (Provision of Information) (Amendment) Regulations 2021 (S.I. No 436 of 2021) came into effect on 1 September 2021. These Regulations amend the Non-life Insurance (Provision of Information) Regulations 2007 to remove the requirement to provide the previous year’s premium on renewal of a private motor insurance policy. This amendment is necessary as the Consumer Insurance Contracts Act 2019 introduced a requirement to provide the previous five years’ premium on renewal of a non-life insurance policy with effect from 1 September 2021.

Home & Motor Insurance Rules

Central Bank of Ireland introduced rules to protect home and motor insurance consumers from 1 July 2022.

The rules followed the Central Bank's 2021 review of differential pricing in the home and motor insurance markets.

The review found that the practice of price walking could result in unfair outcomes for some consumers.

The Central Bank has put in place a series of measures to strengthen the consumer protection framework in the areas of pricing practices, annual review and record keeping, and automatic renewals.

This list is not exhaustive, it is the responsibility of regulated financial service providers to be aware of and ensure compliance with all aspects of applicable legislation. Where legislation has been amended, the above references are to that legislation as amended. Additional legislation which may be relevant to Central Bank of Ireland’s role in respect of consumer protection is listed in Schedule 2 to the Central Bank Act 1942 (as amended).

Industry Letters

Directions issued under the Consumer Credit Act, 1995

Notice of Intention