Chapter 7 of 7 · On the receiving end · 1 of 4
Can a company sue you for a bad review? Serious financial loss and the 2026 test
Checked 9 October 2026, Defamation Act 2009 as amended.
Since 1 March 2026 a company bringing a defamation claim must show the statement caused, or is likely to cause, serious financial loss. What that needs in evidence, and where sole traders stand.
Written for both sides: the paragraphs say which apply to whom. This guide covers the Republic of Ireland.
A business that has been written about wants to know whether it can do anything, and the person who wrote it wants to know whether a company can come after them. This guide answers both. The first part is written for the company, the partnership or the sole trader who has been the subject of a review, a post or an article. The section headed "If you are the one who wrote about a company" is for the author. The sections on evidence, courts and costs apply to both readers, since each needs to know what the other faces.
The short answer
A company can bring a defamation claim in Ireland. Since 1 March 2026, however, a body corporate must show that the statement caused, or is likely to cause, serious financial loss. That requirement was introduced by the Defamation (Amendment) Act 2026, which was signed on 19 February 2026 and brought into force by S.I. No. 61/2026. An individual bringing a claim does not have to show any financial loss. The rest of the 2026 changes are tracked at the rule-change tracker.
The test is a hurdle, not a bar. A company that can show the loss has the same remedies as anyone else, and the same defences are available to the person who wrote the statement.
Who the test applies to
The test applies to bodies corporate: limited companies and other incorporated bodies. It does not apply to individuals, and a good deal turns on how a business is structured.
| Who was written about | Who claims | Must show serious financial loss? |
|---|---|---|
| A limited company | The company | Yes, since 1 March 2026 |
| A sole trader trading under a business name | The individual | No |
| A partnership | The partners, as individuals | No |
| A named director, owner or employee | That person, as an individual | No |
So a review of a one-person trade business run as a sole trader is a claim by an individual, with no loss hurdle. A review of the same trade carried on through a limited company is a claim by the company, with the hurdle. And a statement that identifies a director or a member of staff personally, rather than the business, may give that person a claim of their own. Under s.6 the statement must identify, or be understood to refer to, the plaintiff, so the question is who a reasonable reader would take the statement to be about.
What "serious financial loss" may need in evidence
The Act does not define serious financial loss by a figure, and no guidance figure is published. Two things are clear from the wording. The loss must be financial, so general damage to standing is not enough on its own. And the statement need only be likely to cause the loss, so a company does not have to wait for the year-end accounts to show it.
A solicitor acting for a company would expect to assemble:
- turnover or booking figures for the period before the statement and the period after it
- cancelled orders, lost contracts or withdrawn tenders, with dates, and anything the customer said about why
- messages or statements from customers who mention the review or the post
- the reach of the statement: views, shares, position in search results
- a credible link between the statement and the loss, allowing for anything else that changed at the same time
Timing matters. A claim must be brought within one year of the date the statement was first capable of being viewed, and a court can extend that to two years only where the interests of justice require it. A company that waits for the loss to appear in its accounts may find the clock has run. The time-limit guide at Defamation time limit in Ireland has the detail.
For the business: the routes before court
Most businesses try at least two of these before anyone issues proceedings.
- Capture the evidence. Screenshots with dates and URLs, the reviewer's profile, the platform, and a record of who saw it. Both the loss evidence above and the statement itself need to be preserved before anything is removed.
- A notice to the platform. Under Article 16 of the Digital Services Act every hosting service must offer an electronic notice route. The notice states why the content is illegal, its exact location, the sender's name and email, and a good-faith statement. Coimisiún na Meán is Ireland's Digital Services Coordinator. The notice builder at the notice builder assembles one, and Fake Google reviews and defamation in Ireland covers reviews specifically.
- A written request to the author, asking for correction or removal and saying why.
- A solicitor's letter. A planning assumption, not a tariff: €300 to €1,000. What the recipient sees is at Solicitor's letter for defamation: what to do.
- Alternative dispute resolution. Before issuing, a plaintiff's solicitor must tell the client about ADR, on top of the duty under s.14 of the Mediation Act 2017. The court may invite the parties to use it and takes their response into account on costs.
- The Press Ombudsman, if the statement appeared in a member publication: free, editor first, then the Office within three months. It cannot run alongside court proceedings.
Google's EU delisting form removes results for EU searches of a person's name, and the guide at Right to be forgotten in Ireland: Google explains what it does and does not do.
Which court, and what it costs a company
The Circuit Court hears claims up to €75,000 before a judge alone, and most claims settle within that limit. The High Court has unlimited jurisdiction; for proceedings issued on or after 1 March 2026 a judge sits alone there too. The District Court has no defamation jurisdiction and the small claims procedure does not cover defamation. A company that issues in the High Court and recovers a sum within the Circuit Court limit can be restricted to Circuit Court costs under the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2013. In 2024, 289 defamation proceedings were issued, 228 of them in the Circuit Court, according to the Courts Service Annual Report 2024.
Costs are planning assumptions, not a tariff: opening a Circuit Court case about €1,500 plus VAT and upwards on one practitioner's published estimate; a contested Circuit Court trial €10,000 to €30,000 a side; the High Court a multiple of that; hourly rates €250 to €400 (Irish Times, April 2026). Costs follow the event, so a company whose claim fails normally pays the other side's costs. Civil legal aid is not available for defamation under s.28(9) of the Civil Legal Aid Act 1995. A solicitor must give a written costs notice under s.150 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 and may not charge a percentage of damages.
On the other side of the ledger, the Supreme Court's bands in Higgins v Irish Aviation Authority [2022] IESC 13 put moderate cases at €0 to €50,000 and medium cases at €50,001 to €125,000. The reported awards are at the awards register, and the guide at Circuit Court or High Court for defamation compares the two courts. The tool at the awards and costs page sets the likely award against the likely cost.
Insurance for a small business
Whether a policy covers defamation depends entirely on its wording. Cover for a defamation claim brought against the business, for example over something a member of staff said to a customer or something posted on the company's own channels, and cover for the cost of a claim the business wants to bring are two different questions, and only the policy document answers either. Typical premiums and cover limits are not published. 67% of retailers reported rising premiums during the campaign that led to the 2026 Act, and ISME was among the organisations that pressed for the change. The place to check is the policy document, and the insurer should be told as soon as a letter arrives. This site does not recommend providers.
If you are the one who wrote about a company
This section is for the author of the review, post or comment. The serious-financial-loss test works in your favour: a company that cannot show the loss, or the likelihood of it, does not get past the first hurdle, however much it disliked what you wrote. Check first how the business is structured, because a sole trader has no such hurdle.
Beyond that, your defences are the ones available to anyone. Truth under s.16 is a full defence, and you carry the burden of proving it, so keep the receipts, messages, photographs and dates behind what you said. Honest opinion under s.20 protects an opinion as opposed to an assertion of fact. Fair and reasonable publication on a matter of public interest under s.26 was simplified in 2026 to public interest, a reasonable belief that publication was in the public interest, and good faith. A platform that hosted your words has the separate innocent publication defence under s.27, which is why a platform may remove content on a notice without that being any finding against you.
If a letter arrives, do not reply in anger and do not repeat the statement, since a repeat is a fresh publication. An offer of amends under ss.22 and 23 contains a correction, an apology and compensation, and if rejected is a defence unless you knew the statement was false. The guide written for you is at Sued over a review you wrote in Ireland, and the letter guide at Solicitor's letter for defamation: what to do covers the first few days.
Where this leaves you
For a company, the question since 1 March 2026 is not only whether the statement may be defamatory but whether it has caused, or is likely to cause, serious financial loss that can be shown with figures. For the author, that hurdle plus the defences of truth and honest opinion are the shape of the case. Either way, the tool at the awards and costs page puts the likely award against the likely cost before anyone spends money on a letter, and the form at the solicitor page puts the facts, and the structure of the business, in front of a solicitor who can say whether the hurdle is met.
Frequently asked questions
Can a company sue you for a bad review in Ireland?
A company can bring a defamation claim, but since 1 March 2026 a body corporate must show that the statement caused, or is likely to cause, serious financial loss. A review that is honest opinion, or substantially true, also has a defence regardless of loss. The hurdle does not apply where the business is a sole trader, who claims as an individual.
What counts as serious financial loss?
The Act does not set a figure and no guidance figure is published. The test is whether the statement caused, or is likely to cause, serious financial loss, so the loss can be prospective. A court would expect to see evidence linking the statement to lost sales, cancelled orders or lost contracts, rather than a general assertion that reputation suffered.
Does the serious-financial-loss test apply to sole traders and partnerships?
No. The test applies to bodies corporate. A sole trader, and the partners in a partnership, are individuals, and an individual does not have to prove any financial loss to bring a defamation claim. A director or employee who is personally identified by a statement is also an individual for this purpose.
Can a company get a false review taken down without going to court?
Often the first attempt is a notice to the platform under Article 16 of the Digital Services Act, which every hosting service must offer. The notice says why the content is illegal, where exactly it is, who is sending it and that it is sent in good faith. A written request to the author and a solicitor's letter (a planning assumption of €300 to €1,000) are the usual next steps.
Does business insurance cover defamation claims?
It depends entirely on the policy wording, and typical premiums and limits are not published. Cover for a claim brought against the business and cover for a claim the business wants to bring are two different questions, and only the policy document answers either. 67% of retailers reported rising premiums during the campaign that led to the 2026 Act. This site does not recommend providers.
Which court does a company use for a defamation claim?
The Circuit Court hears claims up to €75,000 before a judge alone, and most claims settle within that limit. The High Court has unlimited jurisdiction and, for proceedings issued on or after 1 March 2026, a judge sits alone. The District Court and the small claims procedure have no defamation jurisdiction.