While tidying the sitting room after Christmas, you may have come across a stray voucher you received from your granny. Maybe you visited some distant relatives in the new year and they gifted you with a cinema voucher or maybe a friend gifted you a cosmetic treatment from your favourite beauticians at a pre-holiday get-together.

If you’re feeling a sense of panic at having unused vouchers in the house and wondering when they might expire, you no longer have to worry. Thanks to the new Consumer Protection (Gift Vouchers) Act of 2019, which took effect on the 2 December 2019, they now have a minimum expiry date of five years.

Recent legislation

According to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, the new Consumer Protection (Gift Vouchers) Act will work to both ensure and increase the rights of consumers who purchase or receive gift vouchers.

Many Irish businesses have already been adhering to these principles regarding voucher use. Mediskin, a laser, skincare and wellbeing clinic in Nenagh, Co Tipperary operates substantial business through their gift-voucher system.

Owner Geraldine Jones says it’s only right to honour their end of the deal when a voucher is purchased.

“We have always accepted gift vouchers, no matter the date,” Jones explains.

“We have never enforced expiry dates – we treat them as a cash-spend. It’s only fair, as we have received our payment.”

Your rights as a consumer

That said, we’ve all had experiences of failed attempts at using expired gift vouchers – previously, expiration dates varied and were generally at the discretion of the business. Now, in addition to a massively extended expiration date, business owners can no longer refuse the use of gift vouchers simply because the name on the voucher is wrong or doesn’t match their records.

“If a business requires the name of a person on a gift voucher and the person’s actual name differs from the name on the voucher, the business can no longer refuse to accept the voucher, or charge you for changing the name on the voucher,” the The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) website states.

With this new legislation comes a few more perks for consumers. Businesses cannot limit the use of gift vouchers to one transaction, meaning you can keep and reuse the vouchers as desired.

If there is a balance of more than €1 remaining on the voucher after the final transaction, this balance must be given in cash or electronic transfer. More than one gift voucher can be used during the same transaction, as well. For instance, if you received two or more gift vouchers over the holidays for small amounts from the same business and want to use them all at once, the business cannot refuse any of the vouchers.

Exceptions to the rule

The following examples do not apply to the new legislation:

One-4-All gift cards

As these gift cards can be used in multiple shops and locations, they are considered electronic money cards and are not covered.

Credit notes

If you return an item and receive a credit note from the business; it is not considered a gift voucher and therefore not included.

Coupons

Coupons from newspapers or magazines are not considered gift vouchers and are not covered.

Loyalty programmes

If you receive an offer, voucher or discount because you are a member of a business loyalty programme, it is not a gift voucher.

Online vouchers for deal websites

Websites that specialise in discounted services and items, like Groupon, Dealy or Pigsback, are not included.

Shopping centre gift card (dependent on circumstance)

This is only the case if the shopping centre gift voucher is for businesses and locations other than that specific shopping centre. If you receive a gift voucher that is redeemable only within the confines of the shopping centre, the legislation still applies. If you can also use the voucher outside of the shopping centre, it is exempt from this legislation.