Dispute Resolution Terms of Service

The Motor Ombudsman, “We”, “Us”, “Our” means The Motor Ombudsman Limited, 71 Great Peter Street, London SW1P 2BN.

Dispute Resolution Service(s), “Our Service(s)” means any of the following:

Early Resolution, means Our informal process for resolving disputes between the parties.

Mediation, means bringing together the parties to facilitate open dialogue, communication, and negotiation to reach a jointly agreed resolution to a complaint.

Adjudication, means the first stage of Our formal process for investigating disputes and making a decision on them based on the evidence provided by both parties, the Code and what is fair and reasonable in the circumstances.

Ombudsman’s Final Decision, means the second stage of Our formal process for investigating disputes based on the evidence provided by both parties, the Code and what is fair and reasonable in the circumstances. This decision, if accepted by the Consumer, will be binding;

Alternative Dispute Resolution, “ADR” means ways of resolving disputes between consumers and businesses that do not involve going to court.

Accredited Business means any business that is accredited to all or one of Our Codes of Practice.

Consumer, “You”, “Your” means the registered keeper and/or end user of any Vehicle, or the complainant or their representative and includes vulnerable consumers.

Code(s) of Practice means any one of Our CTSI Approved Consumer Codes of Practice, which set out obligations and commitments made by an Accredited Business to a Consumer.

CTSI means the Chartered Trading Standards Institute which is the government agency that accredits consumer Codes of Practice and authorises Us as an approved Alternative Dispute Resolution provider.

Vehicle means any passenger car, light, and medium commercial vehicles, and derivatives, and powered light vehicles which may include motorcycles, scooters, and mopeds (up to a maximum gross Vehicle weight of 6 tonnes).

Unacceptable Actions mean behaviour or actions of an individual which We deem unacceptable, resulting in the need for Us to take steps to protect Our staff and to ensure the continuity of Our Services

Frivolous and Vexatious means claims where:

• the dispute is entirely without merit and is made with the intention of causing inconvenience, harassment, or expense to the Accredited Business; or
• the dispute has no serious purpose or value; or
• the dispute has little merit or is of a trivial nature, or where to investigate it would not be in the interests of justice.

1. These Terms apply to Consumer’s and Accredited Business’ use of Our Services. We may adapt these terms to apply to disputes involving three or more parties at Our discretion.

2. We provide Our Service only in English. We may provide parts of our Service via telephone call or online meeting. We will always provide the outcome in writing. We will require either an email address or postal address with which to correspond with you. If You have accessibility requirements or need to communicate in another way, please refer to Our accessibility page here.

3. We may reject any dispute where, at Our discretion, it is not appropriate for Us to provide Our Dispute Resolution Service. It’s likely that We will not be able to consider a dispute if:

3.1. it concerns physical injury, illness, distress/nervous shock or their consequences, criminal activity or claims of negligence;
3.2. the value of any award would exceed £10,000 and/or, where appropriate, the value of the Vehicle;
3.3. a legally binding judgment has already been made, although we may record details of the dispute for monitoring purposes;
3.4. it does not fall within the remit of one or more of Our Codes of Practice or if the business is not an Accredited Business.

4. We may, at our sole discretion, be unable to consider the dispute if:

4.1. Your submission is:

4.1.1. more than 6 years since the event occurred; OR
4.1.2. more than 12 months since you either complained to the business or received their final response; OR
4.1.3. relating to an issue that has not yet exhausted the Accredited Business’ complaints process or allowed them up to 8 weeks to issue a final response.

4.2. the dispute is being or has been previously considered by;

4.2.1. another alternative dispute resolution body; OR
4.2.2. another Ombudsman; OR
4.2.3. a Court.

4.3. You have accepted an offer in full and final settlement of the dispute you are looking to raise.

4.4. there are no demonstrable financial losses and pursuing the dispute is not in the interest of justice.

4.5. the Vehicle was:

4.5.1. bought by or is registered in the name of a business; OR
4.5.2. is primarily used for business purposes (such as using the Vehicle for goods delivery or in the course of business);

4.6. the dispute is Frivolous and/or Vexatious.

4.7. dealing with such a dispute would seriously impair the effective operation of The Motor Ombudsman, such as using The Motor Ombudsman as a test case for group litigation or collective proceedings claims.

5. Our Service is designed for use without the need for legal representation. However, any party may choose to be represented by a third party, but this would be at their own cost, noting that costs may not be recoverable. If You are representing someone else, You must declare this and have their express permission in writing to act on their behalf and for us to process their personal information.

6. We will inform both parties when they can provide evidence, Our process is:

6.1. We will invite the parties during Our Service to submit any evidence they feel is relevant to the dispute. We will confirm receipt of the arguments and evidence You have submitted prior to referral to a decision;
6.2. We can request that each party provides any additional information relevant to the dispute – If this is not provided, a decision may be issued without such additional information based on the balance of probabilities and may not be overturned if this information is later disclosed;
6.3. We may accept evidence after the prescribed periods in which We will invite its submission. The party submitting this will have to demonstrate that this is either new evidence or that it was not available at the time of their initial submissions;
6.4. Any evidence or information submitted to Our Service may be shared with relevant parties in the ADR process, in the interest of transparency and fairness, any presumed confidentially or privilege is therefore waived on submission, unless specifically stated to the contrary;
6.5. Any evidence may be accepted at Our sole discretion and if We consider it is in the interest of justice to do so, however the evidence may be weighted appropriately if there is any delay in providing it;
6.6. Any submissions of evidence and arguments will be subject to the behaviours as defined in Our Unacceptable Actions Notice.

7. We will not tolerate unreasonable or unacceptable behaviour. This is in accordance with Our Unacceptable Actions Notice. For more information on how we handle this type of behaviour, You can find Our notice here.

8. You must comply with Our reasonable instructions.

9. A Consumer can withdraw their dispute at any stage by notifying Us, preferably in writing.

10. Please visit this page regularly for any updates to these Terms of Service. If We make any changes to them, they will be promptly communicated by way of an updated notice posted on this page and in accordance with Our website terms of use.

11. These Terms of Service will be applicable to any disputes submitted to Us from 22nd April 2024 and apply retrospectively to any disputes currently ongoing with Our Service including those submitted before 22nd April 2024.

12. Data Protection – We respect your privacy and take care when processing your personal data to comply with data processing laws and to keep it secure. You can see more information about our data processing in Our Privacy Notice here.

13. The Dispute Resolution Service is provided free of charge to You and You acknowledge that except for circumstances where it is not lawful for Us to exclude or limit our liability:

13.1. We shall not be liable to You for any indirect or consequential loss;
13.2. Our maximum liability to You shall not exceed £1,000.