Consumer ARB
About Consumer Arbitration
Consumer Arbitration is an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) scheme run by CDRL, which specialises in resolving disputes between consumers and traders.
Use of the Consumer Arbitration Alternative Dispute Resolution scheme costs a small upfront fee depending on the amount your dispute is worth:
- £10 for disputes up to the value of £750
- £25 for disputes over the value of £750
Check out ConsumerARB’s website HERE for more info.
If a trader has refused, ignored, or otherwise left you unsatisfied after you made a complaint to them, you can escalate matters without going to court:
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Consumer Arbitration FAQs
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Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is a way of settling a dispute between a consumer and a business without going to court. An independent third party helps the two sides settle it or decides it. Consumer Arbitration is the CDRL scheme for goods and services disputes, and it works by arbitration: a qualified arbitrator issues a written Award under the Arbitration Act 1996 that legally binds both you and the trader.
Yes. Consumer Arbitration is the one CDRL scheme that charges the consumer: an application fee of £10 if your dispute is worth up to £750, or £25 if it is worth more than that. If the arbitrator decides in your favour, the trader reimburses the fee, unless the Award is the same as or lower than an offer the trader had already made you. The other four CDRL schemes, AviationADR, RetailADR, UtilitiesADR and CommsADR, are free for consumers.
Complain to the trader first, using its own complaints procedure. You can come to Consumer Arbitration once the trader has sent you a final written response, often called a deadlock letter, or once 8 weeks have passed without your complaint being resolved. You must then apply within 12 months of that final response, or within 12 months of your original complaint if the trader never replied. What to do before you come to us sets out each step.
Consumer Arbitration issues its written Award within 30 days of declaring a Complete Complaint File, which is the point at which both sides have submitted everything. Reaching that point takes time of its own: the trader is given 28 days to respond to your claim, and you get a 7-day window to reply to its defence. Both parties then have 21 days to comply with the Award.
Consumer Arbitration can only take a complaint about a trader that has joined the scheme and agreed to be bound by its decisions. If you cannot find the trader in the members list you can still submit your complaint and CDRL will check its full membership records. If the trader is not a member, your remaining routes are a chargeback through your card provider, a Section 75 claim if you paid over £100 by credit card, free advice from the Citizens Advice consumer service, or a money claim in the county court.
The arbitrator can award up to £25,000. If your claim is worth more, the scheme will tell you, and you can still go ahead with the claim limited to £25,000. Within that limit the arbitrator decides what the trader owes you on the written evidence, applying the law of England and Wales, and may add interest on any sum awarded even if you did not ask for it. The scheme cannot be used for claims for personal injury, illness or shock, or where the same dispute is already before a court or another ADR body.
The Award is final. Unlike an adjudication it is not something you accept or reject: it binds both you and the trader under the Arbitration Act 1996 and is enforceable in the courts. It can only be challenged in court on narrow legal grounds, such as serious irregularity in the arbitration or the arbitrator acting outside their powers. This is uncommon and needs independent legal advice. The arbitrator can correct a minor error or omission, either on their own initiative or if a party asks within 14 days of the Award being sent.
No. An ombudsman scheme is normally free to the consumer and issues a decision that binds the business only if the consumer accepts it. Consumer Arbitration charges a £10 or £25 application fee and issues an arbitral Award that binds both sides once it is issued, with no accept-or-reject step. If you want the free, accept-or-reject route for a retail dispute, RetailADR is the CDRL adjudication scheme covering the same sector.
