How does The Motor Ombudsman remain independent and impartial?
The Motor Ombudsman operates as an independent entity, and all decisions made by Motor Ombudsman adjudicators and ombudsmen are impartial at all times.
The Motor Ombudsman remains impartial by:
- Having a balanced Board of Directors, which includes Non-Executive Directors from outside of the automotive industry.
- Having its processes and case outcomes reviewed three times a year by the Independent Compliance Assessment Panel (ICAP), where the majority of Panel members are from non-automotive backgrounds.
- Meeting the standards set by the Ombudsman Association’s membership criteria, namely Independence; Fairness; Effectiveness; Openness and transparency; and Accountability. In addition, The Motor Ombudsman adheres to the OA’s Service Standards Framework, a ‘roadmap’ used to embed good operational practice across the organisation.
- Being a certified provider of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), where The Motor Ombudsman is audited every year by the Chartered Trading Standards institute (CTSI), the organisation that oversees ADR providers for non-regulated sectors in the UK, e.g. the car industry.
- Having each of its Codes of Practice audited annually by CTSI to ensure that they remain compliant with the stringent requirements of the Consumer Code Approval Scheme (CCAS).
In addition, The Motor Ombudsman:
- Reviews evidence and the facts of a dispute presented by consumers and businesses in equal measure, meaning there is never any element of bias or one party being favoured over another.
- Is fully transparent as to how impartial decisions are reached through the publishing of anonymised case studies on this website and within The Motor Ombudsman’s Annual Compliance Reports.
- Is not influenced in any capacity by the payment of annual accreditation fees by businesses.
