Resolving a dispute with a trader

To use this service:

• you must have exhausted the business's complaints process
• your dispute must not have already been referred to the courts or another certified alternative dispute resolution provider
• you must apply to our service within 12 months of the trader indicating that they were unable or unwilling to resolve the matter through their internal complaints process
• the value of the claim must be between £100 and £40,000
• the dispute is not deemed to be frivolous or vexatious in nature
• you must apply in English and accept that the process will be conducted in English
• you must be an EU resident
• neither party needs to be in Kent.

Before you apply

You must contact the business you are in dispute with and get their agreement to participate in the Alternative Dispute Resolution process. You cannot apply if the business doesn't agree to participate. Contact Citizens Advice consumer service via Citizens Advice website or on 0808 223 1133 (Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm) to find out what options are available to you. ​

Apply

Apply for an ADR

If you are unable to use the online form, we can accept an application via post.

To apply by post, email adr@kent.gov.uk and request an application form to be emailed, or sent via post.

Postal applications will take longer to process.

Cost

You will need to pay an administration fee of:

• £15 (including VAT) for claims up to £1,000
• £35 (including VAT) for claims over £1,000.

This fee is non-refundable. If we do not receive payment within 7 days, we will delete your application and evidence.

The business will also need to pay a fee to continue your claim. The amount will depend on the claim value. View the cost to the business which is different to your fee.

Evidence

You need to gather all evidence before you make your application. We cannot accept further evidence later unless it is to directly disprove or contradict something the other party has said in their evidence. This applies to both parties.

It is your responsibility to prove the case that you are making, including justifying any sums of money you are seeking to claim and supplying evidence to substantiate these amounts.

The standard of proof is 'on the balance of probabilities'. This means that you have proved that it is more likely than not that what you are saying is true.

You must submit evidence in support of your claim. The better and more organised your evidence, the stronger your claim will be.

As well as providing evidence showing what you say is wrong, you must also provide evidence showing why the amount claimed is appropriate.

It is important that your evidence is well organised. To find out more about what types of evidence you need to provide and how to organise it effectively, read our guidance (PDF, 351.7 KB). Please follow this guidance to the best of your ability. If your evidence does not comply it will be rejected and you will be asked to re-submit evidence which follows the guidance.

If you do not understand the guidance, you should ask a trusted friend or family member to help you. To remain independent we are not allowed to assist either party.

The evidence supplied by the parties involved is the only information used to inform the decision, so please make sure you include everything relevant and that the copies are legible. Including lots of irrelevant evidence can make your case less clear.

Our ADR officials will not make any enquiries beyond what the parties tell them. They are not able to conduct site visits, will not respond to comments like “these are available on request” and will not ask for evidence from other parties like trade associations.

Do not submit original documents with your evidence as we are unable to return evidence to you. At the conclusion of the process your application and all documents will be securely destroyed.

If you have any questions about the application process email adr@kent.gov.uk.

A copy of your application and evidence will be sent to the business. The business will have 7 days from when they receive your application to submit their evidence. Paper applications will take longer to process than online applications. Cases referred to us by trade associations, or similar organisations, will take longer to process.

Both parties will both see the evidence supplied by the other and will be given the opportunity to comment on it and provide further evidence in relation to it.

We will notify both parties when all the evidence has been received and the case has been referred to an adjudicator. We will make our decision and communicate it to both parties within 28 days of that adjudicator receiving the evidence. If the case is so complex that it will take longer than 28 days, we will notify both parties and provide an estimated time frame for our work.

We will consider all of the evidence and reach a conclusion based on the principles of fairness, equity, relevant law and trade standards. Our decision will be based on the written evidence alone. We won't ask either party to give spoken evidence and we won't follow up with witnesses. We will make an adjudication solely on the evidence and award financial recompense if appropriate.

The onus is on both parties to be clear, transparent and honest. Where there is evidence of dishonesty by either party then this may be taken into account by the adjudicator and the matter may be reported to the police.

We will produce a written report and conclusion.

• If you applied online we will send a link to your report by email.
• If you applied by post, but correspondence between us is carried out by email, then we will send the report link by email.
• If you applied by post and have communicated with us only by post, we will send the report by post.

If we find in your favour we may include costs you have incurred in securing evidence in any financial award. It is important that you set out and justify these costs when you apply.

If we find in your favour, but the adjudicator does not feel there is sufficient evidence to make a financial award, you cannot then submit further evidence. If this happens, your only recourse is through the courts.

The outcome is not binding on you as a consumer. The outcome is binding on the business only if there is a legal requirement for them to be bound or if it is a condition of their membership of a trade association or similar body that they agree to be bound.

Should either party not accept our decision and the matter ends up before a court, the court may take into account our findings in reaching their conclusions.

Either party may withdraw from the process at any time. Only businesses that have a legal duty to participate as a condition of their membership of a trade association or similar body cannot withdraw.

Your personal information

For the purposes of the Alternate Dispute Resolution Scheme you will need to give us your name, address, phone number and email address on the application form.

We will keep your personal details on our secure database and at this stage we will only share them with the business you are in dispute with. We will delete your application, including your personal details, from our database if we do not receive the fee from you and/or the business.

If payment is received from you and the business, we will share your application with the adjudicator to make a decision. Outside of the ADR scheme we will only show your application to bodies responsible for auditing the scheme for the purposes of the accreditation. Your application, including the adjudicator’s decision, will be kept on our secure database for 6 years before being deleted.

How the scheme operates

This scheme is owned and run by Kent County Council and is totally independent. For administrative purposes it is housed within Kent County Council's Public Protection service.

The scheme is fully accredited by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute under the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer disputes (Competent Authorities and information) Regulations 2015.

Our scheme is led and managed by a Chartered Trading Standards Practitioner.

This scheme offers an adjudication service, meaning the officials employed by the scheme will assess the evidence presented to them and form a judgement with regard to the most effective means of resolving the dispute. Our officials are all Trading Standards professionals with appropriate qualifications and experience in relation to consumer law, assessment of evidence and decision making. Officials are remunerated from the scheme’s resources on a fixed fee basis and are not incentivised in any way beyond this.

When considering your case our adjudicators will take into account the following principles: the law, any known industry standards, fairness and equity.

Consumers may withdraw from the process at any time. Business may withdraw at any time unless there is a legal duty on them to participate or it is a condition of their membership of a trade association or similar body that they participate.

The outcome is not binding on the consumer. The outcome is binding on the business only if there is a legal requirement for them to be bound or if it is a condition of your membership of a trade association or similar body that they agree to be bound.

The proposed outcome reached by this process may differ from an outcome reached by a court, and taking part in the process does not prevent parties from seeking legal redress through a court.

Read the scheme rules and procedure (PDF, 173.2 KB).

View the process (PDF, 183.3 KB).

Read the 2024 Alternative Dispute annual report (PDF, 177.7 KB)

Read the 2022 to 2024 Alternative Dispute 2 yearly report (PDF, 175.0 KB)

We abide by the regulations for Alternative Dispute Resolution schemes.

If you have any further questions, email adr@kent.gov.uk.

Our officials

Our ADR officials are all appointed by an application process and skills-based interview. They are appointed permanently.

Our postal address is 8 Abbey Wood Road, Kings Hill, West Malling, Kent, ME19 4YT.

A business cannot initiate the ADR process.

Your customer needs to apply and pay the appropriate fee. You will then be notified by email and will have 7 days after receiving the email to confirm you agree to ADR and to submit your evidence.

It is important that your evidence is well organised. To find out more about what types of evidence you need to provide and how to organise it effectively, read our guidance (PDF, 351.7 KB). We strongly recommend that you follow this guidance to the best of your ability.

Cost

The cost to you will be:

We will notify you of your fee and and how you can pay, and will require payment before we can continue with the adjudication.