Service page: Class actions and consumer claims lawyer.
When is compensation due without proof of damage?
The Consumer Protection Law sets a fixed amount without proof of damage mainly in section 18A(d): NIS 300 or NIS 600 when a technician, representative or courier of the business is late well beyond the agreed time. For most other breaches, the person suing has to prove what they lost, because a breach of the Law is a tort under the Torts Ordinance [New Version].
| What happened | What the law says | Amount | Section |
|---|---|---|---|
| A technician or representative of the business did not arrive at the agreed time | A day and time are agreed, and a wait of up to two hours beyond the agreed time | NIS 300 after two hours beyond the waiting time; NIS 600 after three hours | 18A(c), 18A(d)(1) |
| Home delivery of a product the business sold you | The same duty to agree a time, because transporting goods the business sold is one of the visits in the section | NIS 300 / NIS 600 | 18A(c)(1)(e), 18A(d) |
| You were offered a phone call instead of a time, and you waited at home more than two hours | The wait must not exceed two hours, and you have the right to refuse | NIS 300 | 18A(c)(2), 18A(d)(2) |
| Waiting more than six minutes for a human answer at a telecom company, the Israel Electric Corporation, or a water, gas or cable provider | A professional human answer within six minutes for a fault, a billing query and ending the contract | No compensation for the consumer was set; a monetary sanction on the business | 18B(a1), 22C |
| You paid an advance and the product was not supplied on time | Interest from the agreed date until supply, if the delay is more than two weeks | Shekel interest, not a fixed amount | 13(b) |
| Breaches on the closed list in section 31A, after a written request | Exemplary damages | Up to NIS 10,000, at the court’s discretion | 31A |
The amounts of NIS 300 and NIS 600 are written in the Law itself and are not linked to the index. How to check by your own times: the compensation eligibility checker further down the page.
A technician or representative who did not arrive on time
When a visit by a technician or representative of the business to your address is needed, the service provider must agree a day and time with you. The waiting time may not exceed two hours beyond the agreed time. If two more hours have passed beyond the waiting time, that is, four hours after the agreed time, you are entitled to compensation of NIS 300 without proof of damage; if three hours have passed beyond the waiting time, NIS 600. The duty applies to a repair under warranty, a service contract, installation and removal, gas inspections, transport of a product the business sold, and a continuing repair contract. There is no compensation if the delay was caused by circumstances the service provider could not foresee or prevent. All the details, including postponement and advance notice: A technician did not arrive on time: compensation of NIS 300 or NIS 600.
Charged more than agreed, misled, or did not get what you paid for?I will get back to you within one business day.
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What happens after you write to me
- You write what happened and with whom. No documents.
- I get back to you within one business day for a short call of a few minutes.
- If it is a matter I handle: after the call you will receive, in writing, what will be done and what the next step is. Work starts only after you approve.
At the end of the call you will know one of three things: it is a matter I handle, and what the next step is; you can manage without a lawyer, and which guide fits; or it is outside my field, and where to turn.
A delivery that did not arrive on time
Transporting goods that the business sold is one of the visits for which the law requires a day and time to be agreed, so the same NIS 300 and NIS 600 apply to it too. The limited visiting hours, 8:00–19:00 on weekdays, do not apply to transport. When you buy on a website or by phone, the business must tell you in advance the delivery date and how delivery will be made. Did you pay an advance and the product was not supplied within two weeks of the agreed date? The business owes interest from that date until supply. The details: A delivery that did not arrive on time: what the Consumer Protection Law says. A parcel lost or damaged by a shipping company is a different question: A parcel was lost or damaged: who pays and how much.
A long wait for a call center: is there compensation?
The “six-minute law” is section 18B(a1) of the Consumer Protection Law. It applies only to the businesses in the Second Schedule to the Law: providers of landline telephone, mobile and internet access, cable, satellite, a gas supplier, a holder of an essential service provider license under the Electricity Sector Law (the Israel Electric Corporation), a water supplier, and a business in a continuing transaction (ongoing contract) for medical services. Such a business, when it has an automatic call-routing system, must give a professional human answer within six minutes from the start of the call, at least for handling a fault, a billing query and ending the contract, and must not transfer you to leave a message unless you chose to. The duty does not apply in a general system fault in an area, when the business plays a recorded message about the area and the estimated repair time. Where provisions on waiting time were set for the business in another enactment or in its license, the sector regulator may allow it to exceed the six minutes for a share of the calls or for a period it set.
The Law did not set fixed compensation for the consumer for going over the six minutes. The sanction is a monetary sanction that the Consumer Protection and Fair Trade Authority may impose: in 2026, NIS 25,950 for a corporation and NIS 8,260 for an individual. Exemplary damages under section 31A do not apply here either, because section 18B is not on the list in it. What you can do: record the call (time, length, the number you dialed), contact the business in writing, and file a complaint with the Consumer Protection Authority. Someone who suffered real damage from the delay can sue for it, but has to prove it.
Exemplary damages of up to NIS 10,000: only for the list in section 31A
Section 31A allows the court to award exemplary damages (statutory damages), which do not depend on damage, of up to NIS 10,000, but only for the breaches listed in it. The list includes, among others: a business that did not refund money under its return policy, a business that kept charging after a continuing transaction was canceled, a business that did not refund money after a distance sale was canceled, a price at the checkout higher than the price on the product, and failure to deliver a warranty certificate or to repair under warranty. A technician’s delay under section 18A(c) and waiting on a call center line under section 18B are not on the list. Before a claim for exemplary damages, you must send the business a written request. For a repeated or continuing breach, or in aggravating circumstances, the cap rises to NIS 50,000.
How to claim: a letter, a complaint to the Authority, a small claim
- Records. The message in which the day and time were set, the actual arrival time or confirmation that nobody came, and every postponement message and its time.
- A written demand to the business. State the section and the amount. If the business offers a credit or a product instead of money, it must tell you that you may choose money, and the burden of proof that you agreed is on the business. A warning letter before a lawsuit: what to include.
- A complaint to the Consumer Protection and Fair Trade Authority. The Authority is the body that imposes monetary sanctions for breaches of sections 18A and 18B.
- A small claim. An individual can sue in the Small Claims Court for up to NIS 39,900 (in 2026), and a lawyer may represent a party there only with the court’s permission. Small Claims Court: a practical guide.
- A systemic problem. When a company breaches the same duty toward many customers, a claim against a dealer in a matter between it and a customer can be a class action. But in a class action the court does not award compensation without proof of damage, so the fixed amount of NIS 300 or NIS 600 is claimed individually; in a class proceeding damage must be proven, and non-financial damage is included too. Class actions and consumer claims.
Has something similar happened to you?You can write to me what happened and with whom, without documents.
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Telecom companies: what is special
Telephone, mobile, internet, cable and satellite providers are in the Second Schedule, so the duty to give a human answer within six minutes applies to them. A visit by their technician, for installation or for repair under the service contract, is covered by the duty to agree a time and by the compensation in section 18A. Provisions set in a license that require a faster answer remain in force. A claim against a telecom company.
Compensation eligibility checker: technician, delivery and call center
Choose what happened, and for a technician’s visit or a delivery, enter the agreed time and the arrival time. The checker shows the rule in the Consumer Protection Law, the section and the amount the Law sets for your details: NIS 300 or NIS 600 under section 18A(d), or that there is no fixed amount. For a call center wait and for an advance payment, it shows the rule, without an amount. The calculation is done only in your browser: the data is not sent and is not stored.
Section 18A(c)(1) applies only to the situations on the list.
Section 18A(c)(1)(e): transport of a product the business sold. If the business that sold to you agreed a day and time for delivery with you, even when the delivery is made by a courier on its behalf, choose “The business that sold you the product”.
Section 18A(c)(1) and (2).
If a time window was agreed, enter the start of the window.
Postponement is allowed by notice given by 20:00 on the evening before the visit, with a new day and time (section 18A(c)(3)).
On the day before the visit.
Enter the arrival time for the new date.
If the visit was lawfully postponed, answer for the new date; otherwise, for the date originally agreed.
How long you waited at home for the phone call from the technician or courier (section 18A(c)(2)).
The businesses in the Second Schedule to the Consumer Protection Law.
Section 13(b).
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The summary includes the data you entered and the result, including the amounts. It opens for editing, and it is sent only if you send it yourself.
How to claim, as in the “How to claim” section of the page
- Records. The message in which the day and time were set, the actual arrival time or confirmation that nobody came, and every postponement message and its time.
- A written demand to the business. State the section and the amount, and ask for payment in money. A warning letter before a lawsuit: what to include.
- A complaint to the Consumer Protection and Fair Trade Authority. The Authority is the body that imposes monetary sanctions for breaches of sections 18A and 18B. Public inquiries at the Authority (gov.il).
- A small claim. An individual can sue in the Small Claims Court for up to NIS 39,900 (in 2026), and a lawyer may represent a party there only with the court’s permission. Small Claims Court: a practical guide.
- A systemic problem. In a class action the court does not award compensation without proof of damage, so the fixed amount of NIS 300 or NIS 600 is claimed individually; in a class proceeding damage must be proven.
How the checker works
- The checker counts from the agreed time: up to four hours there is no fixed amount; once four hours have passed (two hours of waiting plus two more hours), NIS 300; once five hours have passed, NIS 600 (section 18A(d)(1)).
- A postponement by notice given by 20:00 on the evening before the visit, with a new day and time, moves the count to the new date (section 18A(c)(3)). A later notice is not a postponement under the section.
- A phone call instead of a time: if the wait at home was more than two hours, or you were not told that you may refuse, NIS 300 (section 18A(d)(2)).
- A time window was agreed rather than a time? The Law speaks of “the agreed time” and does not say how to calculate; the checker counts from the start of the window and says so in the result.
- The checker covers only the visits in section 18A(c)(1): a repair under warranty, a service contract, installation or removal of a product the business sold or rented, a gas inspection, transport of a product the business sold, and a continuing repair contract. A tradesperson hired once, a parcel by post or by a shipping company, and a delivery without an agreed time are outside its scope.
- The visiting hours, between 8:00 and 19:00 on weekdays and between 8:00 and 13:00 on Fridays and holiday eves, apply to a repair under warranty, a service contract, installation or removal, and gas inspections, but not to transport or to a continuing repair contract (section 18A(c)(1a)).
- The checker does not decide whether the delay was caused by circumstances the service provider could not foresee or prevent (section 18A(f)), and does not calculate interest on an advance (section 13(b)) or damage.
The check follows the wording of the Law and the details you entered: general information, not advice and not a ruling on your case.
The checker is correct as of the date this page was updated. The text of the sections the checker applies (sections 13(b), 18A(c)–(f) and 18B(a1) of the Consumer Protection Law) was checked against the current text of the legislation in October 2026. The calculation is done only in your browser: the data is not sent and is not stored.
Has something similar happened to you?You can write to me what happened and with whom, without documents.
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Frequently asked questions
The technician was an hour and a half late. Is compensation due?
Not under section 18A. The permitted waiting time is up to two hours beyond the agreed time, and compensation starts only once two more hours beyond that time have passed.
Is there compensation for a half-hour wait at the mobile company’s call center?
The Law requires a professional human answer within six minutes for a fault, a billing query and ending the contract, but it did not set fixed compensation for the consumer for going over. The Consumer Protection Authority may impose a monetary sanction on the business, and you can file a complaint with it.
Is the compensation linked to the index?
No. NIS 300 and NIS 600 are written in section 18A(d), and the section has no linkage provision.
The company offers a credit instead of money. Do I have to agree?
No. The business may offer compensation in goods or services only if it told you that you may choose the money compensation, and only if you agreed; it has to prove that you agreed.
Can I also claim for a workday I lost?
The fixed compensation is given without proof of damage. Beyond it, a breach of the section is a tort, and someone who claims additional damage has to prove it.
Can the compensation be obtained in a class action?
Not the fixed amount. In a class action the court does not award compensation without proof of damage (section 20(e) of the Class Actions Law, 5766-2006).
Sources
- Consumer Protection Law, 5741-1981: sections 18A, 18B and the Second Schedule, 31A, 31, 22C, 13, 14C (Wikisource)
- Notice on the update of monetary sanction amounts under the Consumer Protection Law, Yalkut HaPirsumim 14088, 24 December 2025, p. 2212 (in Hebrew)
- Consumer Protection and Fair Trade Authority — public inquiries (online service, gov.il)
- Courts Law [Consolidated Version], 5744-1984 — sections 60 and 63 (Wikisource)
- Class Actions Law, 5766-2006 — section 20 and the Second Schedule (Wikisource)
- Consumer Protection Law: the sections this site discusses
- Class Actions Law: the section this site discusses
Checked against the current text of the legislation in October 2026. The information is general and is not legal advice.