Concern handling process

Process for managing concerns

If you contact us to report a concern about a business or person you believe has breached consumer and/or competition law, we then consider your concern according to our enforcement criteria.

We receive many notifications each year, and unfortunately it is not possible for us to investigate all of them. To select our cases, we have established enforcement criteria to ensure that our decisions are made in a fair and consistent manner. When assessing information provided to us, we consider factors such as the scope of the conduct, the number of consumers and/or businesses adversely affected, the financial loss caused by the practice, the evidence available, and whether or not the Commission is the most suitable agency to address the concern.

If we do decide to investigate

This can take some time as investigations can be complex. We may not be able to provide information about an investigation while it is ongoing, but we will update you when possible.

If we do not investigate a concern

We understand that this may be disappointing, but we do value all information that is provided to us. Such information helps the Commission to understand how the market is operating, and it may be used if we consider investigating similar conduct in the future.

We also use this information to highlight possible areas of consumer harm in our annual Consumer Issues report. You can find our annual Consumer Issues report on our website.

Disputes

You should not wait for our outcome to take independent action, as the Commission is unable to act on behalf of individuals or give legal advice.

We are not a dispute resolution service and generally cannot assist you to get a refund or personal remedy. Other organisations may be able to assist you in resolving your individual dispute, including Consumer Protectionopen_in_new, the Citizens Advice Bureauopen_in_new or one of your local Community Law Centresopen_in_new – you can find more information on our website.

General information

Our website provides information about your rights as a consumer and information about consumer and competition law. Please take a look at our guidance for consumers, businesses, and regulated industries.

Complaints about the Commission

If we receive complaints about the Commission, the complaint will be read, logged and assigned to a manager to answer. The manager will make contact with the complainant, and may seek further information.

Please see the Complaints Policy for how we handle complaints about us.