As long as you want to use CISAS, and your case falls within the scope of what we can deal with, then your communications provider must cooperate with CISAS.

A professional, legally trained adjudicator appointed by CEDR will decide each dispute by reference to the documentary evidence supplied by the parties, the CISAS Rules and the relevant law. The adjudicators are experienced in dealing with all types of communication and internet service disputes.

The adjudicator will produce a written decision, which will be sent to you and your communications provider. The adjudicator’s decision is confidential, and the communications provider must follow it if you choose to accept it. If you decide that you do not agree with the adjudicator’s decision, you are free to reject it and pursue your claim elsewhere if you wish. In this case, the adjudicator’s decision will not be binding on your communications provider.

Where the adjudicator decides in your favour, the communications provider is required to give you the remedy or remedies that the adjudicator has told them to give you within 20 working days of you telling CISAS that you accept the decision.

Please note that if the adjudicator directs the communications provider to pay you a sum of money, the communications provider may choose to apply this money to your existing account in the form of a credit.

The maximum sum which an adjudicator may award you is £10,000.00. This sum includes compensation, refunds, credits and waivers.

Yes, the operation of CISAS is overseen by Ofcom, the government-appointed Competent Authority and regulator of the communications industry in the UK.

The adjudicator will consider the following:

• The information you provide in your application along with any supporting evidence you submit;
• The evidence submitted by the company in response to your claim;
• All relevant law and any relevant terms and conditions;
• What is most fair and reasonable in the circumstances.

A legally-trained CISAS Adjudicator who will have no direct contact with you or your communications provider to ensure full independence and impartiality.

No, the appointed adjudicator will have no direct contact with you or the company to ensure full independence and impartiality.

No, referring a dispute to CISAS does not remove your duty to pay the company any bills that are not part of your dispute.

No, you must pay for any costs in preparing and submitting your case to CISAS. This includes any third party costs.

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If you want to complain about CEDR please read our Complaints Procedure. Once you have read the Complaints Procedure and you want to submit your complaint, please use our Complaint Form below. Please note that adjudicator decisions are out of scope and are unable to be reviewed or appealed. Also, if a customer or subscribing company wish to bring a complaint about CEDR, they must pay their own costs of preparing the complaint.

Please note that if you require a reasonable adjustment, a member of the team can take your complaint over the phone.

Complaints Procedure

Complaint Form

Independent Reviewer's Terms of Reference

Yes, you are able to withdraw your case at any point and take the matter to another forum. However, once an adjudicator’s final decision is issued, you are only able to accept or reject the decision.

The Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) is registered under the Data Protection Act 2018. CEDR is covered under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). 

Under current data protection laws, you're entitled to ask us for a copy of all the personal data we hold about you. This is known as a subject access request. A subject access request doesn't give you the right to access specific documents or an entire file. Instead, it entitles you to your 'personal data' in a clear and permanent form, as well as other supplementary information.

When you make a subject access request, please let us know exactly what information you're looking for to ensure we provide you with the relevant information. This request can be made in writing or verbally.

Please note that we have 30 days to comply with your request. 

Please note that all inbound and outbound calls are recorded for quality and training purposes. If you do not want your call recorded, please advise the call handler immediately and alternative methods of contact will be arranged.

We wish to also advise you that we only retain calls for a 12 month period. Any requests for calls after that date are no longer accessible.

When it comes to the evidence, you will need to provide things like:

• Dates you first  became aware of the issue or issues
• Confirmation of the date that you first raised the issue with the company
• Any copies of correspondence between you and the company. This can include emails, letters, webchat and SMS.
• Any details of telephone calls you have had with the company. This can include, the names, dates and time of the people you spoke to
• Any other relevant information that you consider will assist in your complaint.

Please note that it is the customer’s responsibility to provide as much information as possible to assist with their claim. Please note that if you are waiting on information from the company, to hold off registering a complaint until you have received that information. If you have only had verbal discussions with the company, please ensure a summary of those calls is provided with your application.

Submitting call recordings as evidence
Many companies routinely record the telephone conversations they have with customers for training and quality assurance purposes and sometimes these recordings can provide useful information for the adjudicator to consider.

Whose job is it to make sure the recordings are provided to the adjudicator?
It is your responsibility to collect and submit the evidence you would like the adjudicator to consider. This includes any call recordings that you would like adjudicator to listen to.

While companies may include call recordings as part of their response in a case, they may not do so. Therefore, you should not assume that the company will provide any of the call recordings in your case.

You can ask the company to send any call recordings that they had with you, but in most cases, you will need to submit a subject access request in order to obtain them.

What is a subject access request?
You have a legal right to access and receive a copy of your personal data, which includes call recordings, correspondence, account notes and other relevant information from any company who may have it. This is commonly referred to as a subject access request or ‘SAR’.

• You can make an SAR verbally or in writing, including via social media. Check with the company for details of the ways in which they will accept a SAR (some companies have a specific process that must be followed).
• Someone can also make a SAR on your behalf if you can prove that you have given your consent for them to do that.
• In most circumstances, the company will provide the information to you free of charge.
• Companies are required to provide the information within one month of your request, although this can be extended by the company for a further two months if your request is complex or if you submit multiple requests.

Will CISAS obtain the evidence/call recordings on my behalf?
No, CISAS will not obtain any evidence on your behalf. It is your responsibility to provide the evidence that you want the adjudicator to consider as part of your case.

In some circumstances, the appointed adjudicator may ask the company for a specific call recording or other piece of evidence. However, the adjudicator cannot force the company to provide it.

Does the company need to keep all of my call recordings?
No. Not every call to a company is recorded, and sometimes calls may have taken place so long ago that the company no longer has a recording available. Companies aren’t required to record every call and they often have data retention policies that mean call recordings are deleted after a certain period of time.

Should I submit my claim before I receive the recordings from the company?
No, you should submit your claim only once you have all of the information and evidence that you would like the adjudicator to consider. Also, once a claim has been made, we cannot put it on hold while you gather evidence. As companies can take up to three months to respond to a SAR, you should wait for their response before starting your case.

No, you are not able to accept the outcome but dispute the amount awarded under any circumstances. You can of course reject the decision and take the matter to another forum.

Where the adjudicator decides in your favour and you accept the decision, the communications provider is required to give you the remedy or remedies that the adjudicator has told them to give you within 20 working days of you telling CISAS that you accept the decision.

No, if the company wishes to settle your dispute by offering to resolve the matter in part, you are not able to attach any conditions to the offer. You are free to accept or reject the offer as it appears.  CISAS does not negotiate on your behalf or get involved in the settlement process.

Auto-Comp payments

If your service provider has agreed to take part in the Scheme, the updated amounts from 1 April 2022 are applicable.