Consumer dispute resolution rules

Businesses selling to consumers must comply with the requirements of the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Competent Authorities and Information) Regulations 2015, which were amended by the Consumer Protection (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit Regulations 2018).

Alternative Dispute Resolution ('ADR') is a way of resolving disputes other than by court proceedings.

This could be via a mediation, where an independent person gives both sides the opportunity to state their position and tries to help them to find a solution.

Or, it could be via adjudication or arbitration: both involve an independent person hearing both sides of the dispute and then making a decision to resolve it.

The above regulations apply to all businesses that provide goods, services or digital content to consumers, except health professionals. They require you to provide certain information to the consumer if it is compulsory for you to use ADR under:

• legislation that applies to your trade sector;
• the rules of a trade association the you belong to; or
• the terms of the contract.

You must then give the consumer the name and web address of the certified ADR body that they have to submit the dispute to.

You should provide this information on your website and in the general terms and conditions of your contracts to supply the goods or services.

If you don't have an obligation to use ADR, but can't resolve a consumer dispute using your own internal complaints procedure, you must give the consumer the details of the certified ADR provider in your sector.

You must also tell the consumer whether you intend to use ADR to resolve the dispute. You should provide this information in a letter, email or other durable medium. A durable medium is one that allows communication to be addressed personally to the consumer and that the consumer can store and reproduce, e.g. by downloading and saving it, or printing it.