About Consumerline and how to contact the helpline

Consumerline is the consumer advice helpline for the Trading Standards Service. Consumerline answers consumer complaints and business enquiries on behalf of the Trading Standards Service in Northern Ireland.

What Consumerline does

The main areas Consumerline deals with are:

faulty goods
substandard service
scams and e-crime
doorstep crime
pricing
false or misleading descriptions of goods and services
counterfeit goods
consumer credit estate agency and the misdescription of property
unfair contract terms
package holidays
weights and measures

Call the helpline

If you are a resident of Northern Ireland and need consumer advice, call the helpline. Or, if you would like to report a problem, or your business is in dispute with a consumer, and you need advice, contact Consumerline:

phone: 0300 123 62 62 (9.00 am to 5.00 pm Monday to Thursday and 9.00 am to 4.00 pm on a Friday) with the exception of bank and public holidays
Contacting 08 and 03 numbers

Before you contact the helpline

You should have a pen and paper ready.

To help the adviser give you the most relevant advice, you should be ready to give them as much of the following information as you can:

your postcode, contact telephone number and email address
brief details of your problem, - for example when you paid for the item or the service, how much you paid, how you paid for it, whether you did so in a shop or online

The adviser cannot:

make a complaint for you
take legal action on your behalf

If the matter appears to potentially break criminal legislation enforced by the Trading Standards Service, Consumerline may refer details of your complaint to Trading Standards Service.

More details about what the Trading Standards Service can and cannot do are available at the following link:

Trading Standards Service

Use an online web form

You can use Consumerline's web form to get in touch.

Contact Consumerline to make a complaint or ask for advice

Consumerline aims to respond within five working days of receipt of a web form.

This online service is not available at weekends from 4.00 pm on Friday to 9.00 am on Monday and on bank or public holidays.

Privacy notice

Find out how any personal information you give when using this service will be handled:

Consumerline privacy notice

Make a complaint

The Department for the Economy (DfE) complaints procedure explains how you can make a complaint about the quality of its services, what standards you can expect when you do so, and what you can do if you at still not satisfied.

Department for the Economy complaints procedure

Sample complaint letters for goods and services

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What to do next

Comments or queries about angling can be emailed to anglingcorrespondence@daera-ni.gov.uk

If you have a comment or query about benefits, you will need to contact the government department or agency which handles that benefit. Contacts for common benefits are listed below.

Employment and Support Allowance

Call 0800 587 1377

Jobseeker’s Allowance

Contact your local Jobs & Benefits office

Personal Independence Payment

Call 0800 587 0932

If your query is about another benefit, select ‘Other’ from the drop-down menu above.

Comments or queries about the Blue Badge scheme can be emailed to bluebadges@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk or you can also call 0300 200 7818.

For queries or advice about careers, contact the Careers Service.

For queries or advice about Child Maintenance, contact the Child Maintenance Service.

For queries or advice about claiming compensation due to a road problem, contact DFI Roads claim unit.

If you can’t find the information you’re looking for in the Coronavirus (COVID-19) section, then for queries about:

Restrictions or regulations — contact the Department of Health
Travel advice (including self-isolation) — contact the Department of Health
Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccinations — contact the Department of Health or Public Health Agency

If your query is about another topic, select ‘Other’ from the drop-down menu above.

For queries about your identity check, email nida@nidirect.gov.uk and for queries about your certificate, email covidcertni@hscni.net.

For queries or advice about criminal record checks, email ani@accessni.gov.uk

Application and payment queries can be emailed to ema_ni@slc.co.uk

For queries or advice about employment rights, contact the Labour Relations Agency.

For queries or advice about birth, death, marriage and civil partnership certificates and research, contact the General Register Office Northern Ireland (GRONI) by email gro_nisra@finance-ni.gov.uk

For queries about your GRONI account, email gro_nisra@finance-ni.gov.uk.

For queries about the High Street Spend Local Scheme, email HSSS.mail@economy-ni.gov.uk.

For queries about:

Car tax, vehicle registration and SORN
contact the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), Swansea
Driver licensing and tests, MOT and vehicle testing
contact the Driver & Vehicle Agency (DVA), Northern Ireland

If your query is about another topic, select ‘Other’ from the drop-down menu above.

For queries about your identity check, email nida@nidirect.gov.uk.

For queries or advice about passports, contact HM Passport Office.

For queries or advice about Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs), including parking tickets and bus lane PCNs, email dcu@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk

For queries or advice about pensions, contact the Northern Ireland Pension Centre.

If you wish to report a problem with a road or street you can do so online in this section.

If you wish to check on a problem or fault you have already reported, contact DfI Roads.

For queries or advice about historical, social or cultural records relating to Northern Ireland, use the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) enquiry service.

For queries or advice about rates, email LPSCustomerTeam@lpsni.gov.uk

For queries or advice about 60+ and Senior Citizen SmartPasses (which can be used to get concessionary travel on public transport), contact Smartpass - Translink.

If you have a question about a government service or policy, you should contact the relevant government organisation directly. We don't have access to information about you.

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