It’s been a year since the introduction of the Motor Industry Code of Practice for Vehicle Sales was introduced to provide added protection for consumers, and the Motor Ombudsman reports that it has received nearly 13,000 contacts during that time.
The Motor Ombudsman was established to provide dispute resolution in cases raised under the Stage Two Chartered Trading Standards Institute-approved code, responding to the growing number of consumer enquiries from car buyers. This follows on from the introduction in 2015 of a new Consumer Rights Act covering the sale of both new and used cars.
The Motor Ombudsman received more than 700 e-mails and calls from consumers in its first four weeks, and over the past year this has grown to an average of around 1,100 contacts per month. Its success rate for dispute resolutions has been high, with only 540 of this year’s contacts requiring a case to be opened and only 10% of those requiring a final decision from the in-house ombudsman.
The most common complaints received relate to the vehicle’s condition at the point of delivery, the lack of sufficient information for a customer to make a decision on the most suitable finance product, and advertising content being inaccurate.
Chief Ombudsman and Managing Director of The Motor Ombudsman, Bill Fennell, said: “Contacts from consumers regarding the Vehicle Sales Code have continued to increase significantly since it was introduced in 2016, and they now form a significant part of the workload of our adjudicators. It’s important to point out however, that this upward trend in the volume of individuals getting in touch with us does not signal a rise in the number of customer complaints or that there has been a decline in industry standards.
Instead, it’s the result of heightened awareness amongst motorists of the Code of Practice and the benefits of engaging in open dialogue and Alternative Dispute Resolution via The Motor Ombudsman, without the need to pursue costly legal action to solve an issue with a garage.”
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