We are an independent Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) body set up to resolve complaints between consumers and business in the renewables and energy efficiency sector. Businesses belonging to our approved Consumer Protection Schemes give consumers confidence and peace of mind that they meet the gold standard in consumer protection.
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is a method of resolving disputes between consumers and businesses without legal action. ADR is quicker, cheaper and delivers an outcome which is fair and impartial.
At Green Homes Dispute Resolution, we aim to help you resolve complaints quickly. This can be achieved through early resolution where we will work with you and the business to find an agreed resolution. If the complaint is not resolved, we will use adjudication whereby an adjudicator considers all the evidence and documents submitted by the parties before reaching a final decision.
If you have not been able to resolve your complaint directly with the accredited business, you can register a complaint with us. The best way to do this is on our website. Once we have received your complaint, a reference number will be created which can be used in correspondence with us. You will be able to upload supporting evidence and documents about your complaint online.
We will confirm whether we are able to handle the issues you have raised, and if we are able to help, we will investigate the complaint and gather information so that we can understand both sides of the story. Once we have all the information we need one of our experienced and expertly trained team will work with you and the business to try and find a quick and fair resolution to the complaint. We call this stage Early Resolution.
If we are unable to help you resolve your complaint through Early Resolution, or if a more informal approach doesn’t feel suitable for the issues you have raised, your complaint will be reviewed by one of our Adjudicators.
After considering the evidence, the relevant Consumer Protection Scheme and consumer law, the adjudicator will make a fair and impartial Proposed Decision. If your complaint is successful, it will include outcomes on what the business must do to put things right. You and the business will have time to provide comments on the Proposed Decision, the adjudicator will consider it and make a Final Decision in 5 working days.
Your feedback is very important to us so please do let us know if you have any concerns about how we have handled your complaint. We will do our best to put things right where possible and make improvements for the next time.
Our aim is to provide the highest possible level of service to all our service users. If you are not satisfied with our service for any reason, please let us know. For example if there have been delays with your complaint or we have not communicated with you properly.
It is helpful for us to have your concerns in writing (by email or letter), but if you would find it easier, we can have a telephone discussion. You can raise an issue with the service you have received from us at any point whilst we are handling your complaint, or within 3 months after your complaint has been closed.
More information can be found here.
Our service is available in English. We accept complaints in English and carry out our early resolution and adjudication process in English.
We can only deal with complaints about a business that is accredited to one of our Consumer Protection Schemes. We only cover businesses that are registered in the UK, however, we can accept cross border complaints. This means that so long as the sales or service contract you are complaining about concerns a business registered in the UK, you do not need to be a UK resident to use our scheme.
The sectors we cover are renewable energy technologies and products related to those technologies e.g. battery and thermal storage products and electric vehicle chargepoints.
The evidence you should provide depends on the type of complaint. For example, if a contract has been cancelled within the cancellation period, provide a copy of the contract and cancellation form. Common types of evidence are:
The outcome you can expect to achieve through our process depends
on the nature of your complaint.
Examples of potential Green Homes Dispute Resolution outcomes:
We can only deal with compensation for losses supported with evidence. This means that we don’t look at compensation for things like distress or future losses.
If the value of your claim is over £50,000, we would suggest pursuing it through alternative means.
Generally, if a complaint falls within our remit we will be able to help. However, there may be cases where the complaint falls within our remit but we can’t help. For example:
It is free of charge for consumers to use our service as we are funded by businesses who have signed up to our Consumer Protection Schemes. Businesses will be charged an administrative fee if an adjudicator makes a decision to resolve a complaint.
The easiest way is to create an online account which allows you to login to check the status of your complaint at any time. Details of how to create your account are emailed to you as soon as we process your complaint form.
If you do not wish to log in, you can view the timeline of your complaint using the complaint reference number and postcode.
Both methods can be accessed here
It depends on nature and complexity of the complaint.
Generally, once a complaint has been registered, we will contact you within 3 working days to request all relevant information and evidence. Once we have received it, our ADR process will begin.
If the complaint is more complex than it first appeared, it may also take longer. Let us know if there is something urgent about your complaint and will take it into consideration.
You can withdraw your complaint from our ADR process at any time.
A Proposed Decision is issued by an adjudicator after they have considered the dispute between the consumer and business. It contains full details of their findings and outcomes. After the decision has been issued, the consumer and business will have 10 working days to provide comments on the decision before it is finalised.
A Final Decision is the last stage in our process. It’s issued by an adjudicator after the Proposed Decision. If a consumer accepts a Final Decision it is binding on the consumer and Business. If it’s rejected, a consumer can take court action if they wish.
Your username is the email you stated on your complaint form, if you have forgotten your password, you can click on the forgotten password link to reset your password.
Otherwise you can contact your Case Handler, by phone or email, who will be able to help you.
If you are not able to login to your online account, please contact your Case Handler who will be able to help you.
Otherwise you can contact us by phone or email to see what we can do to help.
An adjudicator assesses all relevant information and evidence of a case, and makes a judgement based on the law and other relevant guidelines. The adjudicator is neutral and makes their judgement based on the available facts.
An employee of GHDR handling a consumer complaint if a mutually acceptable outcome was not found during early resolution.
Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is the umbrella term for all of the activities we use to help resolve your complaint. ADR is usually cheaper and faster than taking legal action and can still lead to a legally binding result.
This stands for the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, an organisations dedicated to the fields of Trading Standards and Consumer Protection. CTSI is also the competent authority responsible for approving and auditing ADR bodies.
A Consumer Protection Scheme (CPS) is a membership-based organisation, which installers sign up to in order to demonstrate their commitment to high consumer protection standards. If a Consumer Protection Scheme is accredited by GHDR, all their members have agreed to follow our ADR process. Currently, the Consumer Protection Schemes accredited to GHDR are the Renewable Energy Consumer Code (RECC) and the Electrical Vehicle Consumer Code (EVCC)
The first stage of our ADR process, in which a case handler uses informal mediation to find a resolution to a complaint which is mutually acceptable for a consumer and business. The case handler will work closely with you to find a way forward. If resolution is agreed the process ends and there is no legally binding decision.
If you paid for your installation by credit card (over £100 and under £30,000), you may have the right to claim a remedy from your card provider under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 if something has gone wrong.
If you have started a Section 75 claim, we will not be able to assist you with the complaint at the same time because our ADR process is an alternative route to resolve your complaint. If your card provider is unable to handle your complaint, please let us know and you can register a complaint with us.
If we are unable to help you for any reason you can seek free, impartial advice from your local Citizens Advice or Trading Standards department regarding your complaint. You can search for your local Citizens Advice at:
www.citizensadvice.org.uk (England and Wales) or at www.cas.org.uk/get-advice (Scotland).
You can also call the national helplines (please note that standard network charges may apply):
for England call: 0808 223 1133
for Wales call: 0808 223 11344
for Scotland call: 0800 028 1456
You can find the contact details of your local Trading Standards Office by searching using your postcode at: https://www.tradingstandards.uk/consumers/support-advice.
Citizens Advice can also provide you with advice on taking court action.
After cancelling a contract within the cancellation period the Business must refund your deposit within 14 days.
The cancellation period lasts for 14 days from when you signed the contract, OR, for 14 days after the last item of the goods for the installation is delivered to your house. This information should be outlined in your terms and conditions. For more information please contact us.
If the deposit has not been refunded after 14 days, write to the business with full details of your complaint and request your deposit. Give the Business 10 working days to respond and issue a refund. If they do not, register a complaint with us and we will contact them.
If you have cancelled your contract within the cancellation period, the Business should provide you with a full refund. If you have cancelled your contract outside of the cancellation period, the business may deduct an amount to cover work and services already provided up until the cancellation. The Business should provide an itemised invoice on what is being deducted but should not deduct costs for items such as marketing and administrative costs.
Signing an express request form means you have provided your permission for the business to install during the cancellation period. If you decide to cancel at a later date after signing an express request form, you may be responsible for the costs of goods and services already supplied.
The company may request a call-out fee to inspect the fault only if the fault is not related to their workmanship. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, services must be carried out with reasonable care and skill. If the fault is due to their workmanship, the company cannot charge you anything to fix it, including the call-out fee.
If the issue is not related to workmanship, such as a product fault or something external, the company may charge a fair call-out fee if this is made clear in their warranty or contract terms. If you dispute the call-out fee the company is charging, you may register a complaint with us.
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, the company that sold you a product or installation has some responsibility for that product or installation for 6 years (or 5 years in Scotland).
You have statutory rights, and specific remedies available to you when things go wrong, depending on when the fault occurred and the cause of the fault. These remedies can include the rejecting the goods for a full or partial refund or requiring the company to repair or replace your installation.
In addition to these consumer rights, you can also make a claim under the manufacturer’s guarantee if it’s valid. The manufacturer may repair or replace the installation.
Before starting the work, the company should have agreed a timetable with you. If they have not completed the work within the timetable agreed, speak to the company and request that they confirm the new timetable in writing. If the company will not agree a new timetable and work has not been completed, register a complaint with us and we will contact the company.
Generally, the installation must be carried out within a reasonable timeframe, whether or not a date has been agreed. If the timeframe is not reasonable or the company does complete it within the timetable agreed, you may be eligible for a price reduction on the contract.
Contact the company and ask them to confirm when they will start the work. If they do not start the work on the new date you have agreed with them, you have the right to cancel the contract and seek a full refund of any deposit paid.
Moreover, if the company makes a significant change to the agreed timetable set out in the contract, you will be entitled to cancel the contract and receive a full refund of any deposit.
The first step to take is to contact your installer to request the handover documents and give them at least 14 days to provide you with your handover documents. If the installer fails to respond to your request, then you should register your complaint with us.
Contact the business to explain that the system installed is different from what was in the contract. Explain what is missing and ask the business to install it so it matches the description in the contract. If they dispute it, raise a formal complaint with the business and give them 10 working days to respond. If the complaint is not resolved or the business does not respond, contact us to register a complaint.
