Alternative dispute resolution after a garage complaint fails

The garage said no — check the scheme before you refer

You have already written to the garage. They have refused, stalled, or ignored you. You have seen a Motor Ombudsman sticker, or a friend has told you to go to the ombudsman.

Stop before you fill in a form. This route is not a court, and it is not open for every garage. The sections below keep the same official sources. They do not pick a scheme for you and they do not promise an outcome.

Checklist

• Ask the garage in writing which ADR scheme it belongs to and whether it will take part.
• Check the scheme's own membership search rather than a logo on the garage's website or forecourt.
• Ask explicitly for a final response or written confirmation of deadlock, and keep the date you first complained.

What ADR actually is

GOV.UK describes alternative dispute resolution as a way of resolving disputes between consumers and traders that does not involve going to court. Sources: ^[15]

Section 291 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 defines ADR as any method of securing or facilitating an out-of-court resolution of a consumer contract dispute carried out by an independent third party acting in relation to both parties. Sources: ^[1]

The same section gives mediation, arbitration, early neutral evaluation and action under an ombudsman scheme as examples of ADR, and excludes anything done by a judge or by court or tribunal staff. Sources: ^[1]

A repair dispute reaches ADR as a consumer contract dispute, which the Act defines as a legal dispute — one that may be determined by a court or tribunal in proceedings brought by either party. Sources: ^[2]

“ADR” means any method of securing or facilitating an out-of-court resolution of a consumer contract dispute that is carried out by an independent third party acting in relation to both parties to the dispute.

How ADR differs from a court claim

The Act treats several different things as a resolution: a decision binding both parties, a decision which binds the trader if the consumer accepts it, or a settlement between the parties. Which of those a scheme offers depends on that scheme, not on the Act. Sources: ^[1]

An accredited ADR provider must not charge the consumer a fee for ADR unless the fee is charged under fee provisions that the provider has made, that have been approved for that purpose, and that are published so consumers are likely to see them. Sources: ^[4]

The accreditation criteria require an ADR provider to give consumers accessible information about the kinds of ADR it carries out, the possible outcomes of each kind, the types of dispute it deals with, its procedures, and any fees or costs payable by either party. Sources: ^[7]

On its England advice page, Citizens Advice says that if you are thinking of taking a seller to court you should try ADR first, because a judge will usually expect you to have done so, and that a court will take the ADR scheme's decision into account. This is practical advice for England, not evidence of a UK-wide court procedure. Sources: ^[19]

The same Citizens Advice England page also says you cannot usually use ADR more than once, so it is worth checking the scheme's terms before you refer. Sources: ^[19]

What to do

• Read the scheme's published information on outcomes and fees before you refer, not after.
• Do not assume ADR is quicker than court in your case; timescales are set by each scheme's own procedures.
• Do not assume an ADR outcome will match what a court would order on the same facts.

The limit that stops most people: the garage has to be in the scheme

GOV.UK describes the 2026 reforms as replacing the voluntary ADR accreditation framework with a mandatory accreditation framework for ADR providers. The accreditation duty falls on the providers of ADR, not on traders such as garages. Sources: ^[15]

The Act's duty on a trader is to inform: when a trader tells a consumer the outcome of a complaint, it must also tell the consumer about any ADR or other arrangement that is available if the consumer is dissatisfied. Sources: ^[5]

The Act defines that arrangement as one available to the consumer because the trader is obliged to participate in it by legislation, by the terms of the consumer contract, or by other contractual arrangements the trader is party to. Sources: ^[5]

The Motor Ombudsman states that being accredited to it is voluntary and that there is a possibility that a business is not part of the scheme. Sources: ^[18]

The Motor Ombudsman's scheme rules say it provides ADR for complaints against a trader accredited to one or more of its Codes of Practice, and that it may refuse a complaint where the business is not an accredited business. Sources: ^[17]

On its England advice page, Citizens Advice suggests checking the seller's website and terms and conditions for a dispute resolution or complaints procedure, and says that if the seller has no ADR scheme you can ask whether they would be willing to use one. Sources: ^[19]

Checklist

• Ask the garage in writing which ADR scheme it belongs to and whether it will take part.
• Check the scheme's own membership search rather than a logo on the garage's website or forecourt.
• Check the published list of ADR providers to see which schemes exist for motor work.
• If the garage belongs to no scheme and will not agree to one, accept that this route is closed and consider the other routes instead.
• Keep the reply, or the absence of one, as part of your record.

If no scheme covers your garage, nothing here gets you a hearing. That is a real dead end, not a step you have done wrong.

Which ADR bodies CTSI currently lists

GOV.UK directs readers to the Chartered Trading Standards Institute website for a list of ADR providers. Sources: ^[15]

The Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (Alternative Dispute Resolution) (Conferral of Functions) Regulations 2026 confer the accreditation, revocation, enforcement and information functions under the Act on the Chartered Trading Standards Institute. Sources: ^[10]

Those Regulations require CTSI to publish information about each accredited and exempt ADR provider on its website. The CTSI page linked here does not identify, entry by entry, whether DMCCA 2024 accreditation has been granted during the transitional period. Inclusion alone therefore cannot establish current accreditation status, and the page must not be treated as a current accreditation status register. Sources: ^{[10] [9] [16]}

CTSI currently lists these motor-related bodies: The Motor Ombudsman, the National Conciliation Service, RAC Approved Dealers, RAC Approved Garages and RAC Accredited Repairers, the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association, the Electric Vehicle Consumer Code, the European Car Rental Conciliation Service, and two local-authority Trading Standards schemes covering motor disputes. Sources: ^[16]

CTSI states that it cannot investigate or review complaints and cannot overturn a decision reached by an ADR body. Sources: ^[16]

Each body sets its own remit. The Motor Ombudsman says its service covers disputes with accredited businesses about servicing and repair, vehicle sales and warranty products, and that it does not usually cover car finance claims, car insurance disputes, hire car complaints, or businesses that are not accredited to its Codes. Sources: ^{[17] [18]}

The Motor Ombudsman's scheme rules also state that the value of any award must not exceed £10,000 and, where appropriate, the value of the vehicle. Sources: ^[17]

What to do

• Treat the scheme's own current page as the authority on what it will and will not accept; remits and award limits change.
• Check the remit before you check the membership — a scheme may cover the garage but not your kind of dispute.
• OBDCode UK does not rank ADR bodies, recommend one over another, or receive any payment from them.

Deadlock, final response, or the waiting period

On its England advice page, Citizens Advice advises asking the seller for a final response, sometimes called a letter of deadlock, confirming that they have not been able to resolve your complaint, and says this is proof that you have already tried a formal complaint. Sources: ^[19]

The Motor Ombudsman's scheme rules say a consumer must usually have contacted the accredited business first, and may refer the complaint where the business has reached the end of its internal process or issued a final response, where eight weeks have passed since the complaint was raised, or where mutual deadlock has been reached. Sources: ^[17]

Those rules also allow the scheme to refuse a complaint where the business has not yet exhausted its complaints process or been allowed up to eight weeks to issue a final response, unless a final response or mutual deadlock has already been issued. Sources: ^[17]

The same rules set referral deadlines: the dispute should be submitted within 12 months of complaining to the business or receiving its final response, and the scheme may be unable to consider a dispute where the event complained about took place more than six years ago. Sources: ^[17]

The Motor Ombudsman says that if a business does not respond within eight weeks the dispute can still be referred, provided the business is accredited, and that a later refusal to engage does not by itself prevent an eligible case from progressing. Sources: ^[18]

Checklist

• Put the complaint to the garage in writing and keep the date you sent it.
• Ask explicitly for a final response or written confirmation of deadlock.
• Note the date eight weeks after your complaint if the scheme you are heading for uses that trigger.
• Gather the invoice, estimate, correspondence, the garage's final response and any independent report.
• Read the scheme's current rules on deadlines before you submit, because the waiting period and the referral deadline are the scheme's rules, not a single national rule.

CTSI — list of ADR approved bodies

If ADR does not give you the result you wanted

The Motor Ombudsman's scheme rules state that an adjudication outcome is not binding and can be appealed by either party, while an ombudsman final decision is binding on the accredited business if the consumer accepts it. Sources: ^[17]

Those rules state that if the consumer rejects the final decision, or does not accept it by the deadline given, the consumer retains the right to pursue other options including legal action, and that taking part in the procedure does not prevent court proceedings where the consumer has not accepted a final decision. Sources: ^[17]

The Motor Ombudsman also warns that accepting a final decision makes it legally binding on both parties and that you may lose your right to take the complaint elsewhere. Sources: ^[18]

The same rules acknowledge that a proposed resolution may differ from an outcome a court could reach when applying strict legal rules. Sources: ^[17]

These statutory rules are not a general pause of the clock. They apply only to the consumer-contract ADR and time limit or prescriptive period covered by the relevant provision, and only where the original deadline falls within the narrow window stated for that nation. Sources: ^{[12] [13] [14]}

England and Wales — section 33B of the Limitation Act 1980 applies where qualifying ADR starts before the unextended time limit expires and that limit would otherwise expire during the ADR, on the date it ends, or within the following eight weeks. Only when that trigger is met does the time limit for initiating judicial proceedings expire at the end of eight weeks after the ADR ends. Sources: ^[12]

Scotland — section 14(1D) to (1G) of the Prescription and Limitation (Scotland) Act 1973 applies where ADR is carried out in a consumer contract dispute and the last day of the prescriptive period would otherwise fall during the ADR, on the date it ends, or within the following eight weeks. Only when that trigger is met is the period extended to expire eight weeks after the ADR ends. Sources: ^[13]

Northern Ireland — Article 51B of the Limitation (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 applies where ADR is carried out in a consumer contract dispute and the time limit would otherwise expire during the ADR, on the date it ends, or within the following eight weeks. Only when that trigger is met is the time limit extended to expire eight weeks after the ADR ends. Sources: ^[14]

All three provisions define the ADR they cover by reference to Chapter 4 of Part 4 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 and treat ADR as starting when the dispute is first sent or otherwise communicated to the ADR entity in accordance with its complaint-submission rules. Do not assume that a complaint only to the garage, ordinary negotiation or a preliminary scheme enquiry has triggered an extension. Sources: ^{[12] [13] [14]}

What to do

• Read the acceptance deadline and its effect before you accept or reject a final decision.
• Work out the underlying court time limit separately from the scheme's own deadlines; they are different things.
• Do not use these summaries to calculate your deadline. Which national statute and underlying period apply, when that period began, and whether and when qualifying ADR started or ended depend on the statute and the facts. If any possible deadline is close, obtain independent legal advice promptly.

Why some advice pages you find will be out of date

Chapter 4 of Part 4 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, together with Schedules 25 to 27, came into force on 6 April 2026. Sources: ^[9]

Paragraph 10 of Schedule 27 to the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 revoked the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Competent Authorities and Information) Regulations 2015 when that Schedule came into force on 6 April 2026; legislation.gov.uk now marks the 2015 instrument as revoked. Sources: ^{[8] [9] [11]}

Since that date a person must not carry out ADR in relation to a consumer contract dispute unless they are an exempt ADR provider, an accredited ADR provider, or acting under special ADR arrangements made by one of those. Sources: ^{[3] [9]}

The commencement Regulations temporarily disapply both that section 293(1) prohibition and the section 294(1) consumer-fee prohibition for ADR that starts during the transitional period. The period ends on 5 October 2026 or, where the provider applies for accreditation before that date, when the application is granted, refused or withdrawn. Sources: ^{[3] [4] [9]}

Some consumer and scheme pages still describe the pre-April 2026 framework and cite the 2015 Regulations. Where a page you are reading names those Regulations, treat its description of the legal framework as out of date and check the scheme's own current rules and the published list of providers instead.

Important

This page names no scheme as best, gives no success rate, and predicts no outcome.

Do not drive a vehicle that the reviewed safety conclusion says should not be driven, whatever stage your complaint has reached.