SPRING 2016 ROUND-UP Rules introduced tohelp resolve online disputes A new way to settle disputes between customers and businesses over purchases made online was launched in February. According to new rules, if a trader does business online they must provide a link to the European online dispute resolution (ODR) website, but they are not obliged by law to use the service. ROUND-UP Disputes between parties can be resolved in a number of dierent ways before court action has to be taken. Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), for example, is any process for the resolution of a dispute out of court where direct negotiation has failed to resolve the matter to the satisfaction of each party. There is no rule in law that says ADR must be used to resolve a dispute. However, parties to a disagreement must consider whether they should use it. If, without good reason, they fail to do so, a court may ultimately penalise them even the party who wins the case when deciding who is to pay legal costs. There are certain cases for which ADR is compulsory on at least one of the parties (in consumer disputes, this is the trader). In certain business sectors, such as nancial services, consumers can insist that their complaint be decided by the Financial Ombudsman Service. In other sectors such as estate agency or telecommunications the law requires traders to belong to an ADR scheme, but it gives them some choice about which one to join. The benets of ADR schemes can be considerable: they are often completed very quickly; are conducted condentially; and with some types of ADR such as mediation the parties decide the outcome, rather than having it imposed. Costs are often lower (remember, lawyers fees as part of a small claim for less than 10,000 cannot normally be recovered) and ADR procedures can be more flexible in determining outcomes, rather than being wholly dependent on the strict rule of law, as required by courts. The facility will apply to disputes where theparties are based in dierent EU countries. View a full list of approved UK ADR providers Credit: James Shore Images: Bloomua / Shutterstock