What is the Dispute Resolution Service (DRS)?Almost all of the tens of thousands of
registrations and renewals we make each month are problem-free, but about 1 in 1,600 causes someone to make a complaint.
Some examples of the most common types of complaint are available.
For most people the
court system is too expensive and difficult, so we provide the DRS as a cheap, fair and quick way of dealing with these disputes.
How the DRS worksIn a DRS dispute, we act as a neutral party helping the parties to find a solution by providing free
mediation if we can. If that is not possible, we provide the DRS so that the parties can get an
expert decision about the dispute to settle it. There is an
appeal stage, and both the decision and appeal stages are provided by
independent experts.
We provide the DRS for free and in most cases no
fee is due - if one is needed it goes entirely to the independent expert.
The DRS is based on a set of
binding rules. The rules which explain the principles of the system are called the "
Policy" and these explain what a complainant
has to prove in order to win and what the respondent can use as evidence in response. The "
Procedure" explains all the administrative parts of the DRS.
Our
overview booklet explains the process. For more details, see "
So how does the DRS work?". We also publish
statistics.
Before the DRS starts - Your Questions Answered
Considering making a DRS complaint? - Your Questions Answered
Responding to a complaint - Your Questions Answered
Ongoing disputes - Your Questions Answered
Resources for students