Free help from the Consumer Council in Northern Ireland to investigate complaints and save you money

Do you need information or advice about energy, water, transport or postal services? This organisation can help

Passionate about championing consumer interests, the Consumer Council puts consumers at the heart of everything they do.

The Consumer Council is the consumer representative body of Northern Ireland and is a free and independent service providing support and advice on issues such as energy, water, transport and post. The Consumer Council also investigates complaints about buses, trains, planes, ferries, natural gas, electricity, coal, water and postal services on behalf of consumers.

The Consumer Council has a proud history of promoting and safeguarding consumer interests and works with government, and UK and NI regulators, to ensure markets and public services focus on delivering better outcomes for consumers.

From 1 April 2020 to 31 July 2023, the Consumer Council has helped over 36,000 consumers through its free complaints and advice service. It returned £1.9 million to consumer’s pockets through the investigation of enquiries and complaints in areas such as airline compensation, private car parking notices, and transport complaints.

Advice

In addition to its front-line services, the Consumer Council provides information and advice to consumers and businesses on a range of consumer topics through outreach work, information campaigns and their website. In the past three years through its education and community outreach work, the Consumer Council has engaged with over 32,000 people, and its online interactive price comparison tools have been used over 600,000 times.

Saving you money

A range of interactive tools and useful guides is available on their website to help consumers to save money on household bills. The online Cost of Living hub has a range of useful information in areas such as saving money on your food shop, home energy and transport costs. Online tools include the Home Energy Price Comparison Tool, which enables you to compare electricity and gas tariffs for every supplier in Northern Ireland, the Home Heating Oil Price Checker which shows you the cheapest, dearest, and average home heating oil prices and the Appliance Cost Checker which shows how much money your electrical appliances are costing you to run. In addition, the Fuel Price Checker helps consumers here check the highest, lowest, and average price of petrol and diesel in their area to ensure they are getting the best value when topping up their tank.

Get in touch with The Consumer Council for free independent support and advice on Freephone 0800 121 6022, email [email protected] or visit www.consumercouncil.org.uk