Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) refers to ways of resolving disputes between consumers and traders that don’t involve going to court.
If you've got a complaint about something you bought or a service and dealing directly with the trader hasn't worked, you could ask an independent person to look at your consumer problem and try and find a solution.
This may be involve conciliation/mediation, a judgement or arbitration depending on the type of problem.
Laws were introduced in October 2015 requiring traders who have an unresolved dispute with a consumer to give the consumer the details of an Approved Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) body and to indicate whether they are willing to use them or not.
Full details of how and who to use for ADR are available from:
The Ombudsman is the most widely used ADR provider and is free for the consumer.
Full details of the Ombudsman services can be found at MyAdviceGateway - The Ombudsman.
If you found this useful please share it