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The right word can reveal the right route
Consumer disputes become harder when different processes are given the same label. This glossary explains the recurring terms and points to the source or guide that gives them practical effect.
Search terms
Plain-English definitions for complaint and consumer routes
Search by term or by words in the definition. Definitions explain the practical meaning, but the governing statute or scheme may use a more specific test.
A
- ADR
- Alternative dispute resolution. A process outside court in which an approved or recognised body may help settle or decide an eligible dispute. Scheme scope and rules vary.
- APR
- Annual percentage rate. A standardised measure intended to help compare the cost of borrowing. It is not the same as every pound payable under an agreement.
- Arrears
- Payments that have fallen due but remain unpaid. An arrears balance should be checked against the contract, payment history, interest and charges.
- Assignment
- A transfer of rights, such as a creditor assigning a debt. Assignment does not automatically prove the amount, enforceability or accuracy of the alleged balance.
B
- Breach of contract
- Failure to perform a contractual obligation. The remedy depends on the term, seriousness, causation, loss and any statutory rights.
- Burden of proof
- The obligation to prove a disputed fact or case to the required standard. In most civil disputes, the usual standard is the balance of probabilities.
C
- Cancellation period
- The period in which a qualifying contract may be cancelled. The start date, length and exceptions depend on the contract and legal regime.
- Canonical URL
- The preferred URL declared for indexing when several URLs could show the same page. It is a publishing term, not a consumer-law concept.
- Chargeback
- A card-scheme process through which a card issuer may seek to reverse a qualifying transaction. It is separate from statutory Section 75 liability.
- Complaint
- A clear expression of dissatisfaction that requires a response. Regulated sectors may define when a communication counts as a complaint.
- Compensation
- Money intended to address proven loss, impact or inconvenience. The available basis and amount depend on the legal or scheme route.
- Consumer
- Generally an individual acting wholly or mainly outside their trade, business, craft or profession, though definitions vary between regimes.
- Consumer duty
- An FCA regulatory framework requiring firms to act to deliver good outcomes for retail customers. It is not a single automatic compensation rule.
D
- Deadlock letter
- A final response stating that the organisation and consumer cannot agree. It may allow referral to an ADR or ombudsman scheme before a normal waiting period ends.
- Default
- A failure to meet an obligation, commonly a payment obligation. Credit reporting, contractual default and statutory enforcement steps should not be treated as identical.
- Default notice
- A notice required before certain enforcement steps under regulated consumer credit agreements. Its statutory validity depends on content, timing and the action proposed.
- DSAR
- Data subject access request. Another common name for a subject access request under data-protection law.
- Durable medium
- A method that lets a person store information addressed personally to them and reproduce it unchanged for long enough to use it, such as certain emails or documents.
E
- EIR
- Environmental Information Regulations 2004. A distinct public-information regime for environmental information.
- Evidence
- Material capable of supporting or testing a disputed fact. Strong evidence is relevant, authentic, dated and connected to the issue it is offered to prove.
- Exhaustion
- Completion of required internal complaint stages before an external body will accept a case. It does not necessarily pause other legal deadlines.
F
- Final response
- The organisation's concluded response to a complaint. In regulated sectors it can trigger or explain an external referral right and deadline.
- FOIA
- Freedom of Information Act 2000. A regime for access to recorded information held by covered public authorities, subject to exemptions and procedure.
- Forbearance
- Restraint or flexibility shown by a creditor, such as pausing action or agreeing support. The FCA uses related expectations in financial difficulty contexts.
J
- Jurisdiction
- A court, tribunal, ombudsman or regulator's legal or scheme authority to deal with the person, subject matter, location and time period involved.
L
- Limitation
- The legal time limit for bringing a claim. The period and start point vary, and a complaint or ombudsman process may not stop time running.
- Linked credit
- Credit connected with the supply of goods or services. Different statutory protections use specific tests and should be checked against the agreement.
M
- Maladministration
- Poor administration or service failure by a public body, such as avoidable delay, failure to follow procedure or inadequate reasons. Ombudsmen also consider injustice caused.
- Material omission
- Important information left out or presented unclearly where that omission affects, or is likely to affect, a consumer's transactional decision under the applicable regime.
- Mitigation
- Reasonable steps taken to avoid increasing a loss. A claimant is not normally expected to take disproportionate or unsafe action.
O
- Ombudsman
- An independent complaint body with a defined jurisdiction, procedure and remedy powers. Not every organisation using the term has the same statutory status.
P
- Pre-action conduct
- Steps expected before civil proceedings, including exchanging sufficient information, considering resolution and acting proportionately.
- PRAAD
- The Principles of Reciprocity and Data Sharing, industry principles used for sharing credit-account data with credit reference agencies.
- Precedent
- A legal decision that may bind or persuade later courts depending on court hierarchy, legal issue and factual context.
R
- Reasonable care and skill
- The statutory standard generally implied into consumer service contracts by section 49 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015.
- Rectification
- Correction of inaccurate personal data, and completion of incomplete data where appropriate, under the UK GDPR.
- Redress
- An outcome intended to put a problem right, such as a refund, repair, correction, apology, compensation or procedural action.
- Regulator
- A body overseeing compliance in a market or profession. A regulator may take enforcement action without deciding an individual's compensation claim.
- Remedy
- The practical or legal outcome available for a proven wrong. A remedy should be connected to the rule, loss and powers of the decision-maker.
S
- SAR
- Subject access request. A request for personal data and specified information about its processing under data-protection law.
- Section 75
- A Consumer Credit Act 1974 protection that can make a qualifying creditor jointly liable for certain supplier breaches or misrepresentations, subject to statutory tests.
- Statutory instrument
- A form of secondary legislation made under powers in an Act, commonly used for detailed regulations, rules and commencement orders.
- Subject access
- The data-protection right to obtain confirmation, a copy of personal data and specified supplementary information, subject to the legal framework and exemptions.
T
- Terms of reference
- The rules defining an ombudsman or scheme's jurisdiction, exclusions, procedure and powers.
- Trading Standards
- Local authority enforcement services. In England and Wales consumers normally use the Citizens Advice consumer service, which may pass suitable intelligence to Trading Standards.
U
- Unfair term
- A consumer contract term that fails the statutory fairness test. An unfair term is not binding on the consumer, but the precise assessment is contextual.
- Unfair commercial practice
- Commercial conduct prohibited under the current consumer-protection framework, including specified misleading, aggressive and automatically unfair practices.
V
- Vulnerable customer
- A person whose circumstances can make them especially susceptible to harm if a firm does not act with appropriate care. Sector definitions and expectations vary.
W
- Without prejudice
- A rule that can protect genuine settlement communications from being put before the court on the merits. Adding the label does not automatically create protection.
No matching term was found.
Use precise language
Name the concept that matches the route
Several everyday words have narrower legal or scheme meanings. Accuracy helps the reader understand what must be proved and what outcome is available.
- Define abbreviations once. Write the full name before using SAR, ADR, FCA or another abbreviation.
- Separate route terms. A regulator, ombudsman, adjudicator and court do not have identical powers.
- Separate outcome terms. Refund, damages, compensation, reimbursement and redress may depend on different legal bases.
- Use the source definition where it matters. For eligibility or litigation, check the exact statute, rulebook or terms of reference.