A technician did not arrive on time: when the law sets compensation of NIS 300 or NIS 600

How to claim the compensation

1. Keep records. The message with the agreed day and time, screenshots of postponement messages and their time, and the actual arrival time or confirmation that the technician did not come.
2. Write to the business. Cite section 18A(d) and the amount, and ask for payment in money. A warning letter before a lawsuit.
3. Contact the Consumer Protection and Fair Trade Authority. The Authority may impose a monetary sanction on a business that did not provide service in accordance with section 18A: NIS 25,950 for a corporation and NIS 8,260 for an individual in 2026. The sanction is a penalty on the business, not compensation for the consumer.
4. A small claim. An individual can sue for up to NIS 39,900 (in 2026) in the Small Claims Court; a lawyer may represent a party there only with the court’s permission. Small claims: a practical guide.

What you will not get this way: exemplary damages (statutory damages) under section 31A do not apply to a late technician, because section 18A(c) is not on the list in it. Additional damage, such as a working day you lost, can be claimed as a tort, but it has to be proven. And if the company is late like this with many customers: in a class action the court does not award compensation without proof of damage, so the fixed amount is a personal remedy.

Service page: Class actions and consumer claims lawyer.

A technician did not arrive on time: how much compensation does the law set?

The law sets three steps:

1. The service provider agrees a day and time for the visit with you.
2. The permitted waiting time: up to two hours beyond the agreed time.
3. Two more hours have passed beyond the waiting time: NIS 300; three hours have passed beyond it: NIS 600; in both cases without proof of damage.

An example, when a visit was agreed for 10:00:

The amounts are written in the law itself and are not linked to the index. The law speaks of “the agreed time”. If a time window was agreed rather than a time, keep the message in which the window was set; the law does not say how to calculate in such a case.

A check based on your own times, including a postponement and a phone call instead of a time: compensation eligibility checker.

Which visits does the law cover?

The duty applies when a visit by a technician or another representative of the business is needed at your address, and the service provider is someone who must provide service in one of these situations:

• repair during the warranty period, including an extended warranty;
• a service contract in which the service depends on the proper working of a product that is at your place;
• installation or removal of a product that the business sold, rented or lent;
• periodic inspections of home gas installations;
• delivery of a product that the business sold (a delivery that did not arrive on time);
• a continuing paid service contract for repairing products.

In the first four situations, the visit itself must be between 8:00 and 19:00 on weekdays, and between 8:00 and 13:00 on Fridays and the eves of holidays, as agreed in advance. The Minister may set exceptions to these hours, and an exception was set in the Consumer Protection Regulations (Exception to the Application of Section 18A(c)(1a) of the Law), 5778-2017 (תקנות הגנת הצרכן (סייג לתחולת סעיף 18א(ג)(1א) לחוק), התשע״ח-2017): during the hours of darkness, these visiting hours do not apply to a service given entirely outside the home (except a stairwell and an entrance hall) that involves work on electricity or gas, or work at height. The hours limit does not apply to delivery or to a continuing repair contract. A repair under warranty is also subject to the timetable in the warranty regulations: The warranty year: what the manufacturer must repair and when.

What the company may do: postpone by 20:00 the evening before, and a phone call

Postponement. The service provider may notify you, no later than 20:00 on the evening before the appointment, that the visit is postponed, and agree a new day and time, provided the postponement does not delay the service beyond the time the law sets for it. A notice that arrived after 20:00 on the evening before, or on the morning of the visit, does not meet this condition. If the technician also did not arrive at the agreed time, your entitlement is assessed on the timeline above.

A phone call. Instead of an agreed time, the service provider may offer that you wait for a phone call from the technician; your waiting time at home may not exceed two hours, and it must be made clear to you that you may refuse if the offer does not make things easier for you. A breach of these conditions entitles you to compensation of NIS 300 without proof of damage.

Identification. The business’s representative gives their name in every call, and the business calls from a number that shows caller ID; a technician is exempt from the caller-ID requirement, but if you did not answer, they must give you a number to call back.

When there is no compensation

• When the delay resulted from circumstances that the service provider did not know about when setting the appointment and should not have known about, or did not foresee and should not have foreseen, and could not prevent.
• When the technician arrived within four hours of the agreed time: that is not yet “two hours beyond the waiting time”.
• The fixed amounts were set for two situations only: a delay at the agreed time, and a breach of the phone-call conditions. A breach of the visiting hours or of the postponement rules does not give a fixed amount of its own; it is still a breach of section 18A(c), and you can contact the Consumer Protection and Fair Trade Authority about it; an act contrary to the section is also a tort, but damage has to be proven.

Compensation as a credit or in a product: only if you chose it

The service provider may offer, instead of money, compensation in money’s worth, in a product or in a service. This is allowed only if it told you that you may choose the cash compensation, and only if you agreed; the burden of proof that you agreed is on the provider.

A telecom company technician

Installing equipment that the telecom company rented or lent to you, and a repair under the service contract, are visits for which the law requires agreeing a day and time. Telephone, mobile, internet, cable and satellite companies must also give a professional human answer within six minutes when you call about a fault. A claim against a telecom company.

Frequently asked questions

The technician did not come at all. How much compensation?

Under the wording of section 18A(d)(1): when three hours have passed beyond the permitted waiting time, the compensation is NIS 600, without proof of damage. If the technician did not come at all, those three hours have also passed. The exception: circumstances that could not be foreseen or prevented.

The company announced in the morning that the visit was postponed. Is compensation due?

The law allows a postponement only by a notice given no later than 20:00 on the evening before, with a new date and time. A notice in the morning does not meet this; if the technician did not arrive at the agreed time, your entitlement is assessed under section 18A(d)(1).

May the technician arrive at 20:00?

For a repair under warranty, a service contract, installation or removal, and gas inspections, the visit must be on weekdays between 8:00 and 19:00. For delivery and a continuing repair contract, this hours limit does not apply.

The company offers a coupon instead of NIS 300. Do I have to agree?

No. Compensation in a product or a service is allowed only if you were told that you may choose money, and only if you agreed.

Is the compensation updated in line with the index?

No. NIS 300 and NIS 600 are written in section 18A(d), and it has no indexation provision.

Does the law also apply to a private handyman or electrician I hired?

Section 18A(c) applies to a service provider that must provide service in one of the situations in the section: warranty, a service contract, installation or removal of a product that the business sold or rented, gas inspections, delivery, or a continuing repair contract. A one-time booking of a tradesperson that is not one of these situations is not on the list.