Irish law: Consumer Credit Act 1995

Culex

As there are occasional queries raised about Irish credit agreements, I thought it might be helpful to make a brief mention of the Consumer Credit Act 1995 and how it might affect credit agreements in Eire. Until someone troubled to look up the law, the only possible response to forum postings about Irish loans was to say that the UK Consumer Credit Act 1974 did not apply.

The Irish law is rather better, both in the clarity of its language and in terms of the level of protection afforded to the consumer; whilst its principles seem broadly similar to the UK law, it does set out a number of possible offences which the UK law simply ignores.

Section 42 establishes that creditors may be sued should goods bought on credit prove unfit for use.

Section 43 sets out the right of a debtor to a copy of the agreement and/or other documents, and further states that if the documents are not provided in 24 days, the agreement cannot be enforced until the documents are provided.

Section 46 regulates the times and circumstances when a creditor may contact a debtor either by telephone or by a visit.

Section 49 forbids any attempt to pursue an unenforcible agreement and, in contrast to the topsy-turvy nonsense of UK case law, this is not merely restricted to litigation.

Section 12 sets out the offences and section 13 states the penalties, including penalties for continued contravention of the law.