Which business clients count as consumers under the 2025 Consumer Protection Code? A broker's decision tree

A business client can be a consumer under Ireland’s Consumer Protection Code 2025. For an incorporated client, check both its own turnover in the previous financial year and the combined turnover of any group of companies it belongs to. For a sole trader or unincorporated body, do not apply the company turnover test by reflex.

This is a classification step, not a substitute for checking which particular provisions apply to the product and activity. The Code took effect on 24 March 2026. Its definition of consumer and its scope are in Part 1 of the Central Bank’s regulations.

The decision tree

Who is the customer?

Write down the contracting name and legal form—not merely the trading name or the person who emailed.

• Is the customer a natural person, including a sole trader acting in their own name? The definition includes a natural person.

• Is it a group of natural persons, including a partnership, club, charity, trust or other unincorporated body? The definition includes that category too.

Do not treat “business policy” as shorthand for “not a consumer”.

Is the customer an incorporated body?

A limited company is the common case. Obtain its own annual turnover for the previous financial year.

• If it exceeded €5 million, the incorporated body is outside this definition of consumer.

• If it was €5 million or less, move to the group test.

Turnover is not premium, profit or sum insured.

Does it belong to a group of companies?

If so, check whether the group’s combined turnover is greater than €5 million.

• If it is, the incorporated customer is outside the definition even if its own turnover is small.

• If neither exclusion applies, the incorporated body falls within the definition of consumer, subject to the Code’s applicable scope and any provision-specific limits.

The regulations define “group” broadly, including a company, parent, subsidiaries and associated or related undertakings. A single CRO company number does not answer the group question.

Where the group perimeter or period for combined turnover is unclear, stop and refer it for a compliance decision rather than estimating.

The exact threshold matters

Regulation 2 excludes an incorporated body whose previous-year turnover is in excess of €5 million, or which belongs to a group with combined turnover greater than €5 million. At exactly €5 million, neither exclusion is triggered solely by that figure.

The Central Bank’s small-business summary uses the simpler phrase “less than €5m”. For a boundary case, check the regulation with your compliance adviser rather than relying on a shorthand summary.

Three examples to test the rule

These are invented examples for workflow training, not determinations about real clients. Ask counsel to check them before publication.

1. The sole trader

Niamh trades as a café in her own name and had turnover of €5.4 million. As a natural person, she is within the definition of consumer; the incorporated-body turnover exclusions do not apply to her.

File check: Confirm who actually contracts for the policy. If it is her limited company instead, rerun the test for that company.

2. The independent company

Harbour Print Ltd had €4.8 million turnover in its previous financial year and does not belong to a group of companies. It is within the definition on these facts.

Why: The result is not based on the policy being “small business insurance”; it follows from its legal form and both exclusion tests.

3. The small subsidiary

Quay Services Ltd had €900,000 turnover in its previous financial year. It belongs to a group whose combined turnover is €6.2 million. It is outside the definition because the group exceeds €5 million, despite the subsidiary’s own modest turnover.

File check: Confirm the group calculation and membership before recording that outcome.

What belongs on the client file

A yes/no consumer flag without its basis is hard to defend when the legal entity or accounts change. Record:

• The exact customer and policyholder

• Legal form and company number, where relevant

• Whose financial year and turnover were used

• The source and date of those figures

• Whether the customer belongs to a group

• How that group and its combined turnover were established

• The rule applied

• The reviewer and decision date

• Any unresolved question or compliance referral

Keep the supporting evidence and review the classification when the contracting entity, ownership or financial picture changes.

This need not mean asking every sole trader for company accounts. It means collecting the facts that actually decide the question and keeping the route to the decision visible. A structured intake process can capture the legal entity and route uncertain cases to a broker. It cannot make an uncertain legal classification certain by filling a field automatically.

When to send the file to compliance

Refer the file when:

• The named customer and contracting entity differ

• An “unincorporated” client may in fact be an incorporated trustee or company

• Group ownership is disputed or opaque

• There is a recent acquisition or reorganisation

• First-year accounts are incomplete

• Turnover is close to €5 million

• The relevant provision distinguishes a consumer from a personal consumer

Do not use this decision tree to settle special-scope rules or exceptions for a particular product. Regulation 3 sets the general scope, while other regulations restrict or tailor application in specific circumstances.

For the wider issue of proving what your firm did under the revised Code, see our earlier piece on the evidence trail. This article is about a narrower first question: which business client are you dealing with under the Code?