How UK new-car disputes are meant to be resolved: The Motor Ombudsman's four codes, as SMMT publishes them

Buying and running a car in the UK comes with a dispute-resolution path built on industry self-regulation. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), the UK industry trade body, supports the work of The Motor Ombudsman, which it describes as responsible for raising industry standards, offering information and carrying out dispute resolution. SMMT describes The Motor Ombudsman as fully impartial, the first ombudsman focused solely on the automotive sector, self-regulating the UK's motor industry through codes of practice approved by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI). Businesses accredited to one or more of the codes include vehicle manufacturers, warranty product providers, franchised dealers and independent garages.

The scheme is voluntary and industry-run rather than a statutory regulator, and the codes apply to the businesses accredited to them. On our reading of that structure, a driver dealing with a garage or seller not subscribed to a code falls outside that code's complaints machinery. The coverage figures and commitments below are SMMT's own statements, and the codes' text, fees and current terms live with The Motor Ombudsman itself, where they can change.

The four codes and what each one covers

SMMT's consumer advice page describes four distinct codes, each covering a different stage of car ownership:

• New Car Code: SMMT states it covers over 99% of all new cars sold in the UK, covering manufacturers' obligations to consumers through advertising, warranties, availability of replacement parts and complaints handling for new cars.
• Vehicle Sales Code: described as providing reassurance during the vehicle purchasing process for both new and used cars, applicable to both main dealer and independent car retailers.
• Vehicle Warranty Products Code: stated to represent about 70% of the industry's major providers that administer over three million products, covering a range of automotive warranty and insurance products.
• Service and Repair Code: described as helping motorists identify responsible garages, offering a structured complaints procedure and promoting good customer service, with thousands of garages, both main dealer and independent, subscribing across the UK.

What the Service and Repair Code commits a garage to

The Service and Repair Code is the code that applies once a car is out of the showroom, and SMMT's page sets out the commitments made by subscribing garages, alongside free access to the Adjudication and Ombudsman service and an online Garage Finder tool. According to the page, the code commits subscribing garages to honest and fair service, open and transparent pricing, completing work as agreed, invoices that match quoted prices, competent and conscientious staff, and a straightforward and swift complaints procedure. It offers motorists an online Garage Finder tool to locate the nearest reputable garage, and free access to the Adjudication and Ombudsman service.

Where the scheme came from

The self-regulation structure has documented roots in SMMT's own press releases. On 27 May 2008, SMMT reported that the Motor Industry Code of Practice for Service and Repair had been launched by Motor Codes Limited to the trade at the Office of Fair Trading in London on 23 May of that year, with over 5,500 garages having signalled their intent to subscribe via a pre-launch commitment programme, and the code then progressing through the OFT's Consumer Codes Approval Scheme. The release described the code as voluntary and open to any UK garage.

A year-end release dated 7 December 2009 marked five years of the New Car Code. It stated that the code, then administered by Motor Codes Ltd, was the first set of regulations to receive full approval from the Office of Fair Trading and covered 99% of all new cars registered in the UK at that date. Colin Brown, director of consumer policy at the OFT, was quoted in the release as saying the code had been fully approved by the OFT since 2004. The release also gave usage figures: its advice and dispute resolution services assisted 1,133 people with new car issues in 2006, and over 4,000 people the year before the release. These numbers describe 2009, not today.

What the scheme does not settle

Two limits are worth keeping in view. First, the codes apply to accredited businesses: on our reading of the voluntary structure SMMT describes, a driver dealing with a garage or seller that has not subscribed is outside that code's complaints machinery. Second, the coverage claims — the over-99% New Car Code figure, the roughly 70% of major warranty providers — come from SMMT, the industry body that supports the ombudsman, so they are the scheme's own account of its reach. The Motor Ombudsman's own materials are the place to confirm which code applies to a specific dispute and what its process and any costs involve.

Checking it yourself

• Read each code's current text, accreditation lists and complaint process at themotorombudsman.org.
• Use the Garage Finder tool named on SMMT's page to confirm a garage subscribes to the Service and Repair Code before work is booked.
• If a dispute arises, SMMT's consumer advice page lists a free advice line, 0345 241 3008, for guidance before a formal complaint.
• The over-99% coverage figure is SMMT's claim; check The Motor Ombudsman's current publications for up-to-date numbers.