Amend your website by 15th February 2016: The impact of EU regulation No 524/2013 on Consumer Online Dispute Resolution (ODR)
According to the Law Society, virtually every firm in the country must amend its website by 15 February 2016 to inform individual clients about a new EU online dispute resolution (“ODR”) service. This is because you will now be caught by new rules regulating e-commerce. Yet another regulation to comply with!
What is the reason behind the regulation?
In order to promote e-commerce the EU wants consumers who buy a product or service online to be able to submit complaints to traders via an EU platform http://ec.europa.eu/odr . That site will then transmit the complaint to an alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”) entity to try to facilitate a solution. The EU service will be operational by 15 February 2016. All e-commerce businesses must put a link to this service on their website.
Does this apply to my website – am I an online trader?
The view of the Law Society is that a proper interpretation of EU Regulation No 524/2013 and various UK S.I.s notably the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Consumer Disputes (Amendment) Regulations 2015 means that you are caught by the regulation even if you simply email your engagement letter to your client. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has confirmed that this will include solicitors who send or receive contracts and client-care information by email. This is because you will have “offered goods or services on a website or by other electronic means”. Your website is not an offer, merely an invitation to treat but an email attaching your engagement letter might be an offer “by other electronic means”.
What must I do?
In order to comply with the regulations, you must provide the following information on your website:
- a link to the ODR platform http://ec.europa.eu/odr
- the email address of the online trader
The following wording may be suitable:
“If you are a client and we have made a contract with you by electronic means you may be entitled to use an EU online dispute resolution service to assist with any contractual dispute you may have with us. This service can be found at http://ec.europa.eu/odr. Our email address is xxxxxx ”
In reality, clients are still likely to use the Legal Ombudsman service as a more effective and appropriate means to resolve any complaints. In the future, if LeO does become an approved ADR provider, you will be required to also provide:
- a link to the ODR platform in any offer made to a client by email; and
- inform clients of the existence of the ODR platform and the possibility of using this platform for resolving complaints. This information must also be included in the general terms and conditions of online sales contracts and online-service contracts.
These requirements will apply in addition to any information requirements already applicable to solicitors regarding redress. For example, the requirements set out by the SRA Code of Conduct.
For further information see the Law Society guidance http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/support-services/advice/articles/changes-to-client-care-information-and-leo-time-limit/
This article is not a substitute for legal advice. Information may be incorrect or out of date and may not constitute a definitive or complete statement of the law or the legal market in any area. Articles are not intended to constitute advice in any specific situation. You should take legal advice in specific situations. All implied warranties and conditions are excluded, to the maximum extent permitted by law.