Dermott Jewell: From airlines to insurers, consumers trampled on during Covid crisis 

 

We are coming toward the end of a most extraordinary and difficult period in our lives with Covid-19 leaving significant challenges, across all parts of life, and in terms of everyday matters, consumers have been forgotten during the crisis in Ireland. 

From airlines and travel companies to car insurers, a "relaxation" of legal entitlements and provisions has left many Irish consumers out of pocket, being forced to accept vouchers instead of cash refunds.

Generally, there is a significant loss of trust in regulators and their job to enforce much-needed consumer rights, while dropping "relaxation" of consumer rights with "trampling on" would better reflect what has been going on in recent months. 

Motorists, despite numerous calls for fairness for appropriate rebates on car insurance have received minimal response from insurance providers. 

Indeed, the  Consumers’ Association of Ireland (CAI) has recently commented on the deafening silence. 

When the State required lockdowns and limited travel, it should follow that motorists, who are legally obliged to have insurance, should be fairly refunded by the insurers for their loyalty. 

Companies are good at promising the earth to customers at the point of sale. All advertising contain comforting messages about offering high-quality accessible support. 

Far too often those assurances have fallen well short of the truth and are entirely worthless.

It is why we have, and sorely need, rights and legislative provisions to support the consumer when things go wrong.

 The organisations involved with consumer disputes in Ireland include the Citizens' Advice Centres, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, the Financial Service and Pensions Ombudsman, the Commission for Communications Regulation, and all others in between.

They are inundated with requests for help, guidance from consumers with their dealings with providers who deny them their rights and entitlements. 

The European Commission last November launched its New Consumer Agenda, which is a vision for consumer policy over the next few years. 

The Commission reflected that Covid-19 has had a big effect on consumers, highlighting the online scams, cancelled travel arrangements, and other failures.

Its New Consumer Agenda sets out to remedy many of those problems. 

It proposes a system across the EU for "collective redress actions",  which will allow independent not-for-profit organisations, such as the Consumers' Association of Ireland, to take a single case to court on behalf of a large group of consumers.

The EU agenda is trying to put a workable framework and anticipate rapid changes in Europe and the rest of the world, including unknown challenges. 

The agenda therefore also focuses on Green issues of climate and emissions. 

It includes sustainability and durability and how difficult it is to get repairs done to the mountain of consumer products that we bin every day. 

And it gives a high importance to consumer rights and protections in all matters digital.

Here in Ireland, the EU agenda means the focus will soon fall on how the government updates legislation. 

The Sale of Goods and Supply of Services Act of 1980 is the bedrock of consumer protection here. On a daily basis, consumers rely for their rights and protection on this piece of 1980 legislation.  

It will, therefore be interesting, to hear consumers' views on what consumer protections should look like. Understandably, or unsurprisingly, the New Agenda will not deliver for some years to come.

Meanwhile, in Ireland during the Covid crisis, we have allowed companies to bend the language.

The word "refund" has been allowed to mean "voucher", much to the frustration and at the expense of households. 

The same maligned households and consumers are, of course, the "valued customers" of the advertising slogans.

• Dermott Jewell is policy and council advisor at the Consumers’ Association of Ireland