Section 140AA

In this section— “ADR” has the same meaning as in Chapter 4 of Part 4 of the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024; “ADR entity” means a person who carries out ADR in compliance with section 293(1) of that Act (which prohibits persons from carrying out ADR unless exempt, accredited, or acting under special ADR arrangements, in accordance with Chapter 4 of Part 4 of that Act); “consumer contract dispute” has the same meaning as in Chapter 4 of Part 4 of that Act. Subsection (3) applies where— a time limit is set by section 118(1)(a) and (2) in relation to the whole or part of a consumer contract dispute; ADR in relation to the consumer contract dispute starts before the time limit expires; and if not extended by this section, the time limit would expire before the ADR ends or less than eight weeks after it ends. For the purposes of initiating judicial proceedings, the time limit expires instead at the end of eight weeks after the ADR ends (subject to subsection (4)). If a time limit has been extended by this section, subsections (2) and (3) apply to the extended time limit as they apply to a time limit mentioned in subsection (2)(a). Where more than one time limit applies in relation to a consumer contract dispute, the extension by subsection (3) of one of those time limits does not affect the others. For the purposes of this section, ADR starts in relation to a consumer contract dispute on the date when the dispute is first sent or otherwise communicated to the ADR entity in accordance with the entity’s rules regarding the submission of complaints. For the purposes of this section, the non-binding ADR procedure ends on the date of the first of these to occur— the parties reach an agreement in resolution of the consumer contract dispute; a party completes the notification of the other parties that it has withdrawn from the ADR; a party to whom a qualifying request is made fails to give a response reaching the other parties within 14 days of the request; that the ADR entity notifies the party that submitted the consumer contract dispute to the ADR entity that, in accordance with its policy, the ADR entity refuses to deal with the consumer contract dispute; after the parties are notified that the ADR entity can no longer act in relation to the consumer contract dispute (for whatever reason), the parties fail to agree within 14 days to submit the dispute to an alternative ADR entity; the ADR otherwise comes to an end pursuant to the rules of the ADR entity. For the purpose of subsection (7), a qualifying request is a request by a party that another (A) confirm to all parties that A is continuing with the ADR. In the case of any consumer contract dispute, references in this section to ADR are references to the ADR so far as it relates to that dispute, and references to a party are to be read accordingly. Where a court or tribunal has power under section 118(1)(b) to extend a period of limitation, the power is exercisable in relation to the period of limitation as extended by this section.

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Source: legislation.gov.uk · retrieved 2026-09-04