Trading With Consumers? Key Developments In Relation To Alternative Dispute Resolution

A few months ago we posted Insights about significant reforms to the UK consumer legislation; 'Consumer Rights Act 2015: Part 1 – what are the key changes for business and Part 2 – digital content. It seems that the ink is barely dry on the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and here we are writing about further legislative developments which will be highly relevant to businesses contracting with consumers.

Background

When it comes to dealing with businesses, the general position is that consumers are faced with a power imbalance when trying to rectify an issue with goods or services provided to them. The value of goods or services provided on a one-off basis may be relatively low which means that raising an action in court will not, in most cases, be a viable option. Such complaints are even more difficult to resolve when they involve a transaction between a consumer and a business in different EU countries.