UK ADR providers must publish data from 6 April 2026

If you help consumers and traders sort disputes without going to court, new transparency rules arrive on 6 April 2026. Built under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024, these regulations standardise what alternative dispute resolution (ADR) bodies share with the public and with the ADR authority so everyone can see how cases are handled and how long they take. (legislation.gov.uk)

In plain terms, accredited ADR providers must file an annual report within a month of the first anniversary of accreditation, and then every year after that on the same pattern. The report goes to the ADR authority in writing on a durable medium, and it must also be published on the provider’s website so consumers can read it. If you work with other ADR providers under special arrangements, you must report on that activity too, not just your own.

A durable medium here means paper, email, or another format that lets the recipient store and reproduce the information unchanged for future reference. That definition matters: it fixes the standard for what “in writing” means when you submit reports to the authority. (legislation.gov.uk)

Formerly accredited providers are not off the hook. If your accreditation ends, you have a month from that date to send a final report. It must cover the period since your last report; where no earlier report exists, it must cover from the date accreditation started to the date it ended. That final report must also be published on your website if you have one.

Exempt ADR providers have a narrower duty. If you already supply equivalent information to your sector regulator, you must send that same information to the ADR authority within a month, in the same manner. This is designed to avoid duplicated workloads while keeping consumer redress data in one place for oversight.

What goes into the annual stats report is set out in detail. You must state the number of ADR requests you received, and the proportion accepted for ADR, refused with reasons, resolved through ADR, or discontinued before an outcome with reasons where known. You must also show how many cases ended in favour of the consumer and how many ended in favour of the trader.

You then break requests down by the legislation allegedly breached and by type of complaint. For cases you accepted, you must categorise them by the kind of ADR used. Timing is a focus too: publish the average time to resolve disputes measured in two ways-first from the date the request was made to you, and second from the date you accepted the case for ADR to the date of resolution. Where you know it, include how often outcomes were complied with.

There’s more on how your scheme works in practice. If you use special ADR arrangements, explain the type of ADR carried out and how many providers you engaged. Based on your experience, set out any recurring systemic issues that commonly spark disputes and recommend ways to avoid or solve them. Assess the overall effectiveness of your ADR service, share any information you hold about trader and consumer confidence and satisfaction, and outline training provided to the people who run ADR for you. Add any other information you think will help readers understand your performance.

Alongside the annual stats, some service details must be kept current with the ADR authority. Send updates as soon as reasonably practicable if anything has changed since you applied for accreditation. That includes your name, contact and website; the kinds of ADR you offer and the typical outcomes; the types and sectors of consumer contract disputes you handle; your procedures and time limits; any conditions parties must meet before or during ADR; whether ADR can be done orally or in writing; any fees charged; the languages you accept; whether outcomes are binding; your refusal grounds; and how you handle complaints about your own service.

A quick study note for classrooms and training rooms. An accredited ADR provider is a body approved under the DMCC Act to handle consumer contract disputes; an exempt ADR provider is already overseen by another law or regulator so it is carved out of parts of the regime; special ADR arrangements are when an accredited body partners with other ADR providers to deliver parts of the service; the ADR authority is the national body that receives reports and oversees accreditation; a durable medium is a format like paper or email that can be stored and reproduced unchanged. (legislation.gov.uk)

Let’s make the timeline concrete. Suppose your organisation was accredited on 15 May 2026. Your first reporting window opens on 15 May 2027 and you must submit and publish the report by 15 June 2027. Each year after that you repeat within a month of your accreditation anniversary, so you can plan your data collection cycle around a fixed date rather than guessing when a calendar year ends.

Here’s a scenario for former providers. If accreditation ends on 31 October 2027 and your last annual report covered up to 15 May 2027, your final report must span 16 May to 31 October 2027. You must send it within a month-by 30 November 2027-and publish it on your website if you have one. That way, consumers are not left with a gap in the record about how cases were handled just before an exit.

For students of consumer law, this reform sits within a bigger picture. The DMCC Act replaces the old 2015 ADR rules with a stronger accreditation and reporting framework for consumer disputes, with the aim of higher quality redress and better data. It applies UK‑wide across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. (legislation.gov.uk)

One practical question is who the ADR authority is. The Government’s draft Conferral of Functions Regulations would give this role to the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI), covering accreditation decisions, monitoring, enforcement and information handling, subject to Parliamentary approval. If you are preparing systems now, assume CTSI will be your point of contact. (legislation.gov.uk)

What this means for you is straightforward. If you run an ADR service, build a simple data model that captures the required fields at case intake and close, check your website can host a clear annual report, and keep a short document ready to update Part 2 details for the authority. If you teach or study this area, the new rules offer a clean template for evaluating whether ADR is timely, fair and trusted by the people who use it.