Consumer Protection Act 2007

41.

General prohibition on unfair commercial practices.

41.— (1) A trader shall not engage in an unfair commercial practice.

(2) A commercial practice is unfair if it—

(a) is contrary to one or both of the following (the requirements of professional diligence):

(i) the general principle of good faith in the trader’s field of activity;

(ii) the standard of skill and care that the trader may reasonably be expected to exercise in respect of consumers,

and

(b) would be likely to—

(i) cause appreciable impairment of the average consumer’s ability to make an informed choice in relation to the product concerned, and

(ii) cause the average consumer to make a transactional decision that the average consumer would not otherwise make.

(3) In determining whether a commercial practice is unfair under subsection (2), the commercial practice shall be considered in its factual context, taking account of all of its features and the circumstances.

F61[(4) A trader who continues to engage in a commercial practice that has been found to be unfair by a court under this section commits an offence and is liable on conviction on indictment or on summary conviction, as the case may be, to the fines and penalties provided in Chapter 4 of Part 5.]

Annotations

Amendments:

F61

Inserted (29.11.2022) by Consumer Rights Act 2022 (37/2022), s. 153, S.I. No. 596 of 2022.