Case resolution and ombudsman team

Our case resolution team

Our case resolution team consists of an in-house, core department of customer service agents, case administrators, adjudicators and ombudsmen who are appointed to resolve disputes between consumers and accredited businesses. We have 19 ADR officials, which includes our ombudsmen, adjudicators and case administrators. All of our staff have been recruited following a rigorous interview process to ensure they are competent for their role and hold relevant experience. All of our staff are trained in our four Motor Industry Codes of Practice, which set out the scope of our remit, and are provided with technical training. Our case resolution team continues to receive ongoing training and development throughout their careers to ensure they have the skills they need to carry out their duties and investigate cases. It is the duty of our case administrators to investigate cases by gathering facts and evidence, and for adjudicators and ombudsmen to make a fair and reasonable decision based on that evidence. Alongside this, our customer service agents work on the front line, setting up cases and assessing whether The Motor Ombudsman can assist consumers.

 

Charles Woodgate LLB (Hons)

Dispute Resolution Manager

Charles Woodgate graduated in Law with honours, and is currently completing the legal practice course and a Masters with the University of Law. He has over half a decade of dispute resolution experience within the motor industry, and has previously worked with local bureaux and Citizens Advice. Charles has worked with the Motor Ombudsman as an adjudicator, as well as going on to manage our dispute resolution teams for a number of years. He also sits on a number of working groups and panels focused on both dispute resolution, consumer rights and motor industry-specific topics.

 

Our ombudsmen

The ombudsmen are responsible for considering cases where someone has disagreed with the adjudicator’s conclusion. They will then look at the case again from start to finish before making their final decision which, if accepted by the consumer, becomes binding on both parties. The decision is only binding if accepted – if the consumer rejects the decision, they retain their right to take the matter to court.

Alex Barnes (LLM, LLB)

Ombudsman

Alex graduated in law, and went on to complete the Legal Practice Course and a Masters degree with BPP University. Prior to joining The Motor Ombudsman, Alex worked as a Consumer Law Arbitrator, where he made decisions on a wide variety of cases, ranging from utility disputes to faulty goods and unfair contracts.

 

Find out more about Alex’s career background and role here

Greg Byron (LLB)

Ombudsman

Greg holds a law degree from the University of Liverpool, and initially joined a firm of solicitors before his introduction to the ADR sector. Since making the move to dispute resolution, Greg has dealt with a mixture of complex cases across a number of sectors, and has managed teams of case assessors and investigators to improve their decision making. Most recently, Greg worked in the transport sector within the Civil Service. Specifically, he worked to challenge the perception that complaints should be seen simply as a cost of doing business, instead of being a great opportunity for organisations to learn directly from their customers.

 

Find out more about Greg’s career background and role here

Sadie Marshall (LLB)

Ombudsman

After graduating with a law degree from the University of Sussex in 2015, Sadie went on to investigate and resolve disputes within financial services. She spent four years at the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS), initially as an adjudicator, and then as an investigator. She resolved disputes in several different financial areas, including insurance, mortgages, pensions and investments. Sadie then continued resolving disputes and issuing final stage appeals at the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) prior to joining The Motor Ombudsman in her current position.

 

Find out more about Sadie’s career background and role here

Roy Milne BA (Hons)

Ombudsman

After graduating with a degree in economics, Roy embarked on a career in financial services. After a number of different roles, Roy settled on a career in complaints handling investigating disputes about pensions and investments. Roy went on to work at the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) for over twenty years. During this time, Roy issued many decisions involving high value and complex pensions and investment complaints.

 

Find out more about Roy’s career background and role here

 

Our Mediator

Izabel Morris BA (Hons)

Mediator

Izabel completed her undergraduate degree in history at Queen Mary University of London. She then went on to study the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) before working as a case administrator at The Motor Ombudsman. Izabel trained with the Society of Mediators in 2023.

 

You can read more about careers at The Motor Ombudsman here.