Frequently Asked Questions - ADRnow

1. I have just read the full page on Mediation.... a glaring omission is you don’t say how and where to actually secure such a service! Not much point explaining if you don’t tell the public who or what runs such mediation services...
2. I have recently had trouble with a local trader. The company had items on display for sale, but when I tried to purchase the item the price was more then double the price that was on display. At the exact time another customer had the same trouble with a different sale item. The manager refused to sell the items at the price that was very clearly displayed. Would you be able to let me know what would be the correct course and who I could make a complaint to? It would be much appreciated.
3. When my year’s student tenancy ended in the summer, the landlord refused to give us back our deposit. He said the house was a tip, and he needed the money to clean it up. I know that we weren’t very tidy, but it wasn’t that bad. He won’t return my calls. Is there anything I can do about this?
4. When I re-mortgaged my house three years ago, I repaid all my outstanding debts, including my credit card, in full. Then earlier this year I had a letter from a debt collector, saying they had been assigned my credit card debt. But there has been no debt for three years, and I don’t even have a credit card any more. This has affected my credit reference as well. The credit card company has not been at all helpful in sorting this all out, and have offered only £150 in compensation. Where can I complain?
   
5. I've only just found your excellent site, and I thought your explanation of maladministration was very helpful. But can you tell me if the Local Government Ombudsman agrees with your definition?
6. My neighbour, with whom I have a shared driveway, has a very large tree growing in his front garden. This is uprooting the driveway, someone has already fallen due to the uneven surface, and it is a nuisance because it litters my garden. It is an evergreen tree, is not under preservation orders, and sheds needles which block my drains. I have spoken to him several times, have written thrice - he simply lies or does not respond. Can someone mediate?
   
7. My home telephone line has been disconnected by my provider during a broadband upgrade, and remains off 10 days later. Emails, telephone calls, letters to head office have had nil effect. Do I seriously have to wait 12 weeks before you intervene?
8. I manage a small flow of disputes each year, mostly where we have not been paid. I am aware of the pressure to use alternative dispute resolution. There is a lot of guidance on adr procedures. However, I have seen nothing that deals properly with the subject of enforcing a decision or agreement reached as a result of following an adr procedure.
9. Please can you advise me on how to further my complaint against my kitchen installation company? My kitchen was due to be completed a month ago, but there is still a lot that needs to be done. So far we have made verbal complaints to the store, head office and customer services and we have complained in writing to customer services, but they have just replied saying the problems have been resolved. They haven’t!
10. My husband and I are divorcing. We need advice on reaching a financial settlement but our solicitors give us conflicting advice. How can we get advice about a fair settlement without resorting to the courts? We have been using a mediation service but our mediator seems to be unable to give us a clear indication of how we should proceed.
11. Didn't find what you were looking for?

1. Q: I have just read the full page on Mediation.... a glaring omission is you don’t say how and where to actually secure such a service! Not much point explaining if you don’t tell the public who or what runs such mediation services...
2. A: Thanks for your email. I take your point, but it's not a straightforward issue! It depends whether you are looking for a family mediator, a mediator for a neighbour problem, or a mediator for a commercial dispute. And even when you have identified the type of mediation, there is no single body that will direct you to a local, quality assured mediator.
    
   If you have a look at the specific pages that outline Family Mediation, Community mediation and mediation in Civil and commercial disputes on the ADRnow site, you will find links to organisations that may be able to help. Some are also listed in the site ADR Directory. There is also a page titled Choosing a mediation provider which will explain some of the problems and give you some signposts.
    
   PS In the light of your comments, I will put something on the mediation page directing users to where they can find this information. Thanks for drawing it to my attention!
    
   
   
   
3. Q: I have recently had trouble with a local trader. The company had items on display for sale, but when I tried to purchase the item the price was more then double the price that was on display. At the exact time another customer had the same trouble with a different sale item. The manager refused to sell the items at the price that was very clearly displayed. Would you be able to let me know what would be the correct course and who I could make a complaint to? It would be much appreciated.
4. A: I can suggest three places which might be useful. The government funds Consumerdirect, a website and helpline for consumers. You can have a look at the information on the site, or phone the helpline during working hours on 08454 04 05 06. They will be able to let you know what the law is, and what your rights are. If you want to try to negotiate something with the trader, have a look at the Consumer Affairs page on this site, which gives an overview of the options for dealing with consumer disputes. You may also find that approaching your local Trading Standards office would be a good move. Advertising misleading prices could be a criminal offence, and they may want to investigate if it has happened more than once.
   
   
5. Q: When my year’s student tenancy ended in the summer, the landlord refused to give us back our deposit. He said the house was a tip, and he needed the money to clean it up. I know that we weren’t very tidy, but it wasn’t that bad. He won’t return my calls. Is there anything I can do about this?
6. A: This kind of attitude from landlords has been quite a common problem. But on 6th April 2007 it became compulsory for all landlords and letting agents who take tenancy deposits to be a member of one of the three approved tenancy deposit protection schemes. If your landlord has not joined one of the schemes, he could be liable to pay you three times the deposit in compensation!
   Each scheme operates slightly differently, but all of them have an independent ADR process for resolving disputes about deposits at the end of a tenancy. It’s usually some kind of independent adjudication, and in most cases the adjudicator will split the deposit between the landlord and the tenant, according to what seems fair. If the landlord won’t pay up what the adjudicator decides, the scheme will make sure you get your money. You can find out more about Tenancy deposit disputes on this site.
   
   
   
7. Q: When I re-mortgaged my house three years ago, I repaid all my outstanding debts, including my credit card, in full. Then earlier this year I had a letter from a debt collector, saying they had been assigned my credit card debt. But there has been no debt for three years, and I don’t even have a credit card any more. This has affected my credit reference as well. The credit card company has not been at all helpful in sorting this all out, and have offered only £150 in compensation. Where can I complain?
   
8. A: The Financial Ombudsman Service deals with complaints about all financial services providers, including banks, building societies and credit providers. Their services are free to the consumer, and the FOS can advise you on whether the compensation offered is appropriate. If it is not, they can investigate your complaint, and try to resolve things. As always, you have to take your complaint to the business first - but it sounds as though you have done this already.
    
   You can read more about how the Financial Ombudsman Service works on this site: there is a link to their website from this page, and details of their consumer helpline numbers.
   
   
   
9. Q: I've only just found your excellent site, and I thought your explanation of maladministration was very helpful. But can you tell me if the Local Government Ombudsman agrees with your definition?
10. A: I'm glad you found What is maladministration? useful. In fact the definition we use is based on the LGO explanations on its own website - if you have a look at the section of the site aimed at advisers (see LGO adviser guide) and click on "Has the council done something wrong? (maladministration)" you will find the same list of examples of maladministration as we use on the ADRnow site.
    From April 2008, the LGO can now make a finding of ‘service failure’ even if there is no maladministration. This includes services which the council should have provided directly, or which it had arranged for contractors to provide. For example, if the council has arranged for a local firm to make repairs in a council property, and they don't turn up, the tenants will not get the service they are due. This would be a service failure, and you could complain to the ombudsman if the council don't deal with your complaint themselves.
    
    
    
11. Q: My neighbour, with whom I have a shared driveway, has a very large tree growing in his front garden. This is uprooting the driveway, someone has already fallen due to the uneven surface, and it is a nuisance because it litters my garden. It is an evergreen tree, is not under preservation orders, and sheds needles which block my drains. I have spoken to him several times, have written thrice - he simply lies or does not respond. Can someone mediate?
    
12. A: I'm sorry to hear about the problem with your neighbour. If you want to try mediation, as you suggest, you should contact your local community mediation service. They will be able to discuss the problem with you, and will probably come round to talk to you about it. They will also contact your neighbour and speak to him about it, and try to set up a joint meeting to discuss things further. Neighbour mediation of this kind is usually free, as it is often funded by the local authority and local housing associations. Unfortunately, there is no longer a national community mediation umbrella group (it used to be Mediation UK) so the easiest way to find your local service is to type 'community mediation' and your local authority into Google or another search engine. You can find out more about Community mediation on this site, or have a look at Maria’s story which looks at this kind of problem.
     
    If your neighbour is not responsive to a mediation proposal, you will want to get some legal advice on other options. If you go to our legal information website Advicenow and type 'neighbour dispute' into the search box at the top of the home page, it will give you a few websites with really useful legal information about neighbour disputes.
     
    I hope you manage to sort things out!
    
    
    
13. Q: My home telephone line has been disconnected by my provider during a broadband upgrade, and remains off 10 days later. Emails, telephone calls, letters to head office have had nil effect. Do I seriously have to wait 12 weeks before you intervene?
14. A: Thanks for your email. ASA runs the ADRnow website as an information resource for advice agencies and for the public - we don't deal with complaints directly ourselves.
     
    Complaints about telecommunications providers should first be made to the organisation concerned - though it sounds like you have already done this! If you are not satisfied with their response after 8 - 12 weeks, or after they have sent you a final response, you can take your complaint further. All telecommunications providers are required by Ofcom to be members of an approved independent dispute resolution scheme. Currently Ofcom has approved two schemes - Otelo, the telecommunications ombudsman, and CISAS, an adjudication service.
     
    You may find that mentioning an intention to take your complaint to Otelo or CISAS may motivate your provider to expedite dealing with your complaint!
    
    
    
15. Q: I manage a small flow of disputes each year, mostly where we have not been paid. I am aware of the pressure to use alternative dispute resolution. There is a lot of guidance on adr procedures. However, I have seen nothing that deals properly with the subject of enforcing a decision or agreement reached as a result of following an adr procedure.
16. A: You do raise a valid point about ADR options; few of them have an enforcement process.
     
    Some ADR decisions can be enforced directly through the courts: arbitration, for example, is legally binding. Some ombudsman decisions can also be enforced via the court, though in fact this is rarely needed as there is a high compliance rate.
     
    Other ADR processes are not directly enforcable in this way, especially mediation. However, research into pilot small claims mediation schemes a couple of years ago found that nearly every agreement reached through mediation was complied with. You can find out more about Small claims mediation on this site. Agreements reached through mediation can also be turned into court orders by mutual agreement, and then enforced through the courts if necessary.
     
    It is worth noting that although in principle courts do have procedures to enforce judgements, in practice getting a judgement enforced is not always easy.
     
    The assumption of mediation is that both parties are aiming to reach a win/win agreement, and they are therefore both motivated to fulfil the terms agreed. My own view is that this works best in disputes between parties with a long-term relationship of some kind, which both sides have an interest in maintaining. This might include separated parents, neighbours, landlord and tenant, school/LEA and family, service provider and regular consumer. In these cases both parties are motivated to co-operate for their mutual advantage.
    
    
    
17. Q: Please can you advise me on how to further my complaint against my kitchen installation company? My kitchen was due to be completed a month ago, but there is still a lot that needs to be done. So far we have made verbal complaints to the store, head office and customer services and we have complained in writing to customer services, but they have just replied saying the problems have been resolved. They haven’t!
18. A: Thanks for your enquiry. There is a dispute resolution scheme called The Furniture Ombudsman (Qualitas) which will try to resolve complaints about suppliers of furniture, kitchens and bathrooms. Providing the company that supplied you is a member of the scheme, the Furniture Ombudsman will try to resolve the complaint through some form of conciliation process, or, if necessary, inspect the problem on site and make a formal report. The member company is bound to comply with the ombudsman's recommendation. This service is free to consumers.
     
    If your supplier is not a member, the furniture ombudsman will provide an on-site inspection and report at a cost – from around £250. You can find out whether your supplier is a member of the scheme on the The Furniture Ombudsman website.
    
    
    
19. Q: My husband and I are divorcing. We need advice on reaching a financial settlement but our solicitors give us conflicting advice. How can we get advice about a fair settlement without resorting to the courts? We have been using a mediation service but our mediator seems to be unable to give us a clear indication of how we should proceed.
20. A: Thanks for your email. There are a couple of things you and your husband should bear in mind. Firstly, mediators shouldn't give advice - their role is to help separating or divorcing couples reach an agreement about any issues in dispute, and the rule in mediation is that while the mediator is responsible for the process, the two people mediating are responsible for the outcome.
    Secondly, you might expect solicitors to give you conflicting advice - in effect, you are on different 'sides' when you are divorcing, and you may not have the same interests. Each of you will have a solicitor whose job is to represent you, and try to get the best possible outcome for you. You may decide not to fight for the best possible deal in order to have a less acrimonious divorce, but that is your decision.
    The Advice Services Alliance produced a series of leaflets about mediation, funded by the government. They explain how mediation works during divorce and separation - you might find it helpful to have a look at them, especially 'We're splitting up', which looks at all the options you have. You'll find them at Advicenow family mediation.
    
    
    
21. Q: Didn't find what you were looking for?
22. A: If you have a question about ADR that is not answered on this site, please complete the boxes below and send it in. We will do our best to provide the information you need.
    
    

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