The conditions for the board to take proceedings:

• Complaints are received from the consumer. A consumer signifies an individual who purchased goods or services for a fee, provided that the purchase is not made for professional purposes.

• Complaints are directed against the seller. A seller signifies an individual, company, public entity and others who appear for professional purposes and enter into agreements with consumers, as well as anyone who appears for professional purposes on behalf of the seller.

• A contract has been made between the consumer and the seller regarding purchase of goods or services.

• The consumer has tried to resolve the issue directly with the seller.

• Dispute is not excluded from the complaint board's jurisdiction.

• Appeal fee of ISK 5,000 is paid by the consumer.

Dismissal reasons

The Board's secretaries receive complaints and review the information presented in the complaint and attached documents. When it is clear that a case does not fall under the boards jurisdiction, the secretaries can decide to dismiss the case. The consumer can request that the board reviews the secretaries' decision.

The Board can dismiss cases in accordance with procedural rules and jurisdiction.

The board must dismiss a complaint when:

• The conditions for the board to take proceedings are not fulfilled.

• Certain categories of cases are by law excluded from the complaint board’s jurisdiction for example:

  • Health care service

  • Public services for postgraduate studies or higher education

  • Community service that is non-profit

  • Real estate purchase

• A dispute is being, or has been, handled by the courts.

• Disputes in certain types of transactions may be subject to a particular complaint board and take over jurisdiction in specific types of disagreements.

  • You can find a list of board’s that have been recognized by the minister regarding alternative dispute resolutions for consumers here.

  • You can look for boards within the European union here.

The board may dismiss a complaint when:

• The consumer has not tried to resolve the issue directly with the seller.

• The value of the goods or services to which the complaint relates is higher than ISK 5,000,000.

• The complaint is of unimportance or without cause.

• The complaint is deemed inadmissible.

• Handling a case would in any way seriously impair the effective functioning of the complaints board of goods and services.