Communications Ombudsman is an approved ADR service for disputes with participating communications providers.
It can consider eligible unresolved complaints about services such as broadband, mobile and landline where the provider is within its scheme. The provider must first have a reasonable opportunity to resolve the complaint.
For complaints raised with communications providers from 8 April 2026, the normal waiting period for ADR was reduced to six weeks, unless deadlock permits referral sooner.
Key points
- Check that your provider is covered by the scheme.
- Submit the provider’s final/deadlock response and key evidence.
- Define the complaint scope clearly, especially where billing, contract, credit reporting and complaint handling overlap.
- If challenging a view/decision, follow the scheme’s current process and deadlines.
What to include in the case
A concise issue list, chronology, key bills/contracts, provider responses and the remedy sought are usually more useful than a large undifferentiated bundle. If a credit-reporting issue is included, identify whether the dispute concerns the balance, reporting accuracy, default timing, notification or all of those.
Decision quality
When you receive a view or decision, compare it with the issues submitted. Check chronology, findings, evidence treatment and remedy. If something material is omitted, identify it precisely through the scheme’s permitted challenge route.
Keep Ofcom and ADR roles separate
Communications Ombudsman resolves individual disputes; Ofcom regulates the market. A provider’s compliance with Ofcom rules can be relevant evidence, but Ofcom is not the individual adjudicator.
In practice
- Keep the complaint date and deadlock/final response.
- Use numbered issues rather than one long narrative.
- Explain the remedy for each issue - correction, refund, compensation, account action or apology.
What to do
A practical next-step plan
- Confirm provider membership.
- Complete the provider complaint step.
- Refer at deadlock or when the waiting period is met.
- Submit structured evidence.
- Audit the outcome against the complaint scope.
Common traps
Things that often confuse the issue
- Assuming every communications provider uses the same ADR body.
- Relying on the word “default” without explaining whether you mean service termination, debt collection or CRA reporting.
- Treating a £ goodwill offer as automatically resolving separate correction issues.
Evidence worth keeping
Where to go next
Use the scheme’s current challenge/service-complaint arrangements for errors in its process; keep regulatory reports to Ofcom separate.
Understand what the outcome can and cannot do
Read any proposed resolution and decision carefully, including acceptance mechanics and whether the provider is bound. If an issue is outside scheme jurisdiction, ask for the jurisdiction reason in writing and consider the appropriate regulator, credit, data or court route.
Keep the routes separate.
Regulator, ombudsman/ADR, statutory appeal and court proceedings can have different purposes, powers and deadlines. Using one route does not automatically preserve another.
Build the complaint for an independent reader
Lead with the live issues. If the complaint is about mis-selling, state what was represented, what contract was entered, what later differed and what evidence exists. If about billing, reconcile the disputed amount line by line. If about service failure, give outage dates, fault reports, promised repair dates and any automatic-compensation issue.
| If they say… | What to check or say back |
|---|---|
| “You are too early because ADR is always eight weeks.” | For complaints first raised from 8 April 2026, Ofcom reduced the normal threshold to six weeks. |
| “Our final response closes the complaint.” | A deadlock/final response can open external ADR rather than extinguish it. |
| “The account notes prove our version.” | Compare the notes with contract documents, recordings, bills and contemporaneous messages. |
| “We offered a goodwill credit.” | Explain whether you accept it, and distinguish goodwill from the actual loss/correction/remedy sought. |
Check jurisdiction and timing before writing the full case
Do the gateway checks first. A perfectly argued complaint can still fail if it is sent to the wrong body, too early, too late or against a respondent outside the scheme.
- Complain formally to the provider first.
- For complaints raised on or after 8 April 2026, the normal unresolved-complaint gateway is six weeks; deadlock can permit earlier referral.
- Check provider membership and scheme scope before building a long submission.
- Keep bills, contract terms, sales evidence, complaint correspondence and the remedy calculation.
Is Communications Ombudsman actually the right body?
Communications Ombudsman is one of Ofcom’s approved ADR schemes for unresolved communications disputes. Use it when your provider is a member and the complaint concerns a matter within the scheme, such as billing, contract, service or complaint handling.
Ofcom is the sector regulator; it normally does not adjudicate your personal bill or compensation dispute. CISAS is the other approved telecom ADR scheme, so check the provider rather than choosing the scheme by preference.
Official sources
Check the rules behind this guide
- Communications Ombudsman - Our process
- Communications Ombudsman - 6-week transition information
- Ofcom: quicker complaints resolution from April 2026 ↗
These are official or primary sources for this topic. Rules, scheme terms and deadlines can change, so check the live source before relying on a formal time limit or procedure.