Annual activity reports

SCHEDULE 5

The Waterways Ombudsman has been approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) as a Consumer ADR body under the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Competent Authorities and Information) Regulations 2015. As part of the annual approval process the Waterways Ombudsman scheme is required to publish an annual activity report within one month of the date of the anniversary of the approval, relating to the activities within the year for which the approval relates. The information below is for the 12 months from 1 October 2021 to 30 September 2022. During this period there have been no cross-border disputes (that is, disputes raised by a person in an EU country other than the UK).

NOTES: The average time to resolve complaints is based on the time to issuing the final report, starting with the date on which I receive what is known as the Complete Case File (CCF), that is, the information I need to start the investigation.

The ADR Regulations cover only consumer disputes.  I did not receive any complaints from business.

Investigations must be completed within 90 days unless they are complex. The average of 56 days above is for all consumer complaints. The cases investigated by the Waterways Ombudsman are generally quite complex. In this period 2 of the 7 completed investigations was complex as information was needed from third parties.   

The average time to resolve disputes is based on completed cases. Of the complaints I received in the year to 30 September 2022, and accepted for investigation, there were 2 which had reached the CCF stage but where I had not yet reached a decision.

SCHEDULE 5

The Waterways Ombudsman has been approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) as a Consumer ADR body under the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Competent Authorities and Information) Regulations 2015. As part of the annual approval process the Waterways Ombudsman scheme is required to publish an annual activity report within one month of the date of the anniversary of the approval, relating to the activities within the year for which the approval relates. The information below is for the 12 months from 1 October 2020 to 30 September 2021. During this period there have been no cross-border disputes (that is, disputes raised by a person in an EU country other than the UK).

NOTES: The average time to resolve complaints is based on the time to issuing the final report, starting with the date on which I receive what is known as the Complete Case File (CCF), that is, the information I need to start the investigation.

The ADR Regulations cover only consumer disputes.  I received two complaints from business which have been excluded.

Investigations must be completed within 90 days unless they are complex. The average of 77 days above is for all consumer complaints. The cases investigated by the Waterways Ombudsman are generally quite complex. In this period 3 of the 7 completed investigations was complex. There were added delays and extensions granted due to problems gathering information as a result of the Coronavirus Pandemic and this has impacted the time taken to resolve disputes. 

The average time to resolve disputes is based on completed cases. Of the complaints I received in the year to 30 September 2021, and accepted for investigation, there were 2 which had reached the CCF stage but where I had not yet reached a decision. 

The Waterways Ombudsman has been approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) as a Consumer ADR body under the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Competent Authorities and Information) Regulations 2015. As part of the annual approval process the Waterways Ombudsman scheme is required to publish an annual activity report within one month of the date of the anniversary of the approval, relating to the activities within the year for which the approval relates. The information below is for the 12 months from 1 October 2019 to 30 September 2020. During this period there have been no cross-border disputes (that is, disputes raised by a person in an EU country other than the UK).

NOTES: The average time to resolve complaints is based on the time to issuing the final report, starting with the date on which I receive what is known as the Complete Case File (CCF), that is, the information I need to start the investigation.

The ADR Regulations cover only consumer disputes.  I received one complaint from a business which has been excluded.

Investigations must be completed within 90 days unless they are complex. The average of 46.6 days above is for all consumer complaints. The cases investigated by the Waterways Ombudsman are generally quite complex, but in this period only one of the 5 completed investigations was complex.

The average time to resolve disputes is based on completed cases. Of the complaints I received in the year to 30 September 2020, and accepted for investigation, there were two which had reached the CCF stage but where I had not yet reached a decision.

The Waterways Ombudsman has been approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) as a Consumer ADR body under the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Competent Authorities and Information) Regulations 2015. As part of the annual approval process the Waterways Ombudsman scheme is required to publish an annual activity report within one month of the date of the anniversary of the approval, relating to the activities within the year for which the approval relates. The information below is for the 12 months from 1 October 2018 to 30 September 2019. During this period there have been no cross-border disputes (that is, disputes raised by a person in an EU country other than the UK).

NOTES: The average time to resolve complaints is based on the time to issuing the final report, starting with the date on which I receive what is known as the Complete Case File (CCF), that is, the information I need to start the investigation.

The ADR Regulations cover only consumer disputes. I received one complaint from a business which has not been included.

Investigations must be completed within 90 days unless they are complex. The average of 57.5 days above is for all consumer complaints. The cases investigated by the Waterways Ombudsman are generally quite complex, and in this period of the 14 completed investigations, five were complex. Of the five complex cases, one took more than 90 days, and the average of all but the longest case was 49 days.

The average time to resolve disputes is based on completed cases. Of the complaints I received in the year to 30 September 2019, and accepted for investigation, there were two which had reached the CCF stage but where I had not yet reached a decision.

The Waterways Ombudsman has been approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) as a Consumer ADR body under the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Competent Authorities and Information) Regulations 2015. As part of the annual approval process the Waterways Ombudsman scheme is required to publish an annual activity report within one month of the date of the anniversary of the approval, relating to the activities within the year for which the approval relates. The information below is for the 12 months from 1 October 2017 to 30 September 2018. During this period there have been no cross-border disputes (that is, disputes raised by a person in an EU country other than the UK).

NOTES: The average time to resolve complaints is based on the time to issuing the final report, starting with the date on which I receive what is known as the Complete Case File (CCF), i.e the information I need to start the investigation.

The ADR Regulations cover only consumer disputes. Although I received some complaints from businesses they are not included.

Investigations must be completed within 90 days unless they are complex. The average of 103 days above is for all consumer complaints. The cases investigated by the Waterways Ombudsman are generally quite complex, and in this period the complaints have been of unusually high complexity. Of the 12 completed investigations, only three were not complex, and they were completed in an average of 55 days. Of the nine complex cases, six took more than 90 days, and the average of all but the longest case was 88 days.

The average time to resolve disputes is based on completed cases. Of the complaints I received in the year to 30 September 2018, and accepted for investigation, there were two which had reached the CCF stage but where I had not yet reached a decision.

The Waterways Ombudsman has been approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) as a Consumer ADR body under the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Competent Authorities and Information) Regulations 2015. As part of the annual approval process the Waterways Ombudsman scheme is required to publish an annual activity report within one month of the date of the anniversary of the approval, relating to the activities within the year for which the approval relates. Initial approval was granted on 20 August 2015. In my annual activity report for 2016-17 I provided information for the period from 1 August 2015 to 31 July 2016.

The CTSI has decided that for ADR bodies first approved before 1 October 2015, approval would be treated as having being given on 1 October 2015, and I have decided to adopt this date.

As the review is an annual review, I have used a 12 month period for the information below, but it is for the period from 1 October 2016 to 30 September 2017. During this year (and also for the two months from 1 August to 30 September 2016) there have been no cross-border disputes (that is, disputes raised by a person in an EU country other than the UK).

NOTES: The average time to resolve complaints is based on the time to issuing the final report, starting with the date on which I receive what is known as the Complete Case File (CCF), i.e the information I need to start the investigation.

Investigations must be completed within 90 days unless they are complex. The average of 86 days above is for all cases. The cases investigated by the Waterways Ombudsman are generally quite complex. Of the 15 completed investigations, six were not complex, and all were completed within 90 days.

The average time to resolve disputes is based on completed cases. Of the complaints I received in the year to 30 September 2017, and accepted for investigation, there were three which had reached the CCF stage but where I had not yet reached a decision.

The Waterways Ombudsman has been approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute as a Consumer ADR body under the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Competent Authorities and Information) Regulations 2015. As part of the annual approval process the Waterways Ombudsman scheme is required to publish an annual activity report within one month of the date of the anniversary of the approval, relating to the activities within the year for which the approval relates. Approval was granted on 20 August 2015, and the figures below are for the period from 1 August 2015 to 31 July 2016. During this year there have been no cross-border disputes (that is, disputes raised by a person in an EU country other than the UK).

NOTE: The average time to resolve complaints is based on the time to issuing the final report, starting with the date that I receive sufficient information from the complainant to decide to open an investigation. I generally need further information before I can carry out the investigation, which is almost always from the complainant. The average time to resolve disputes, from the date of receiving that information, is 53 days. In most cases, because of the complexity, I need to seek or request further information, or make a site visit, during the investigation.