Complaints and Appeals Procedure

This Procedure applies to: (a) complaints about the conduct, decisions or service of the Register; (b) complaints about a participating workshop in connection with a record it has entered; and (c) appeals against a decision of the Register, including refusal of an application, refusal of an amendment, restriction of a record and any enforcement action.

It does not apply to disputes about the quality of work carried out on a vehicle. The Register is not a consumer redress scheme and cannot order a refund, repair or compensation. Such disputes are matters for the workshop, an alternative dispute resolution provider, or the courts. The Register will, however, record the concern and act on it where it bears on the workshop's continued eligibility.

All complaints and appeals are made through the contact form. The Register publishes no general email address or telephone line: a single written channel ensures every matter is referenced, logged, retained and auditable.

A complaint should state what happened, when, who was involved, what has already been done to resolve it, and what outcome is sought. Any relevant workshop reference or certificate identifier should be given.

A complaint may be made anonymously. The Register will investigate an anonymous complaint but cannot report the outcome or offer a right of appeal to a person it cannot identify.

A substantive response is issued within 20 working days of receipt. Where an investigation cannot be completed in that time, the complainant is told before day 20, given the reason and a revised date, and updated at least every 20 working days thereafter.

Where the complaint concerns a participating workshop, that workshop is given a fair opportunity to respond before any adverse finding is made. Complainant identity is disclosed to the workshop only where necessary and, where possible, with the complainant's agreement.

The decision is issued in writing on the case record and states the finding, the reasons for it, and any action taken. Possible actions include no further action, correction or amendment of a record, restriction or withdrawal of a record, a formal warning, revocation of the verified badge, restriction, suspension or termination of participation under the Workshop Standards, Compliance and Enforcement Policy (NVSR-WSC-001).

A complainant or an affected workshop dissatisfied with a Stage 2 decision may request a review within 20 working days of that decision, stating the grounds.

Grounds for review are limited to: a material fact was overlooked or wrong; the published procedure was not followed; the decision was outside the range of reasonable outcomes; or new evidence has emerged that was not available at Stage 2.

The review is carried out by a person who was not involved in the original decision. The outcome is issued within 20 working days and may confirm, vary or set aside the original decision. The review decision concludes the Register's internal procedure.

A workshop may appeal any enforcement action within 20 working days. Lodging an appeal does not automatically suspend the action; the Register may suspend it on request where the risk to the public is low and the grounds are arguable.

Where an enforcement action is set aside on appeal, the Register restores the workshop's status, reinstates any affected records, and records the correction in the audit trail.

Suspension pending investigation is a protective measure, not a finding of wrongdoing, and is described as such wherever it is shown publicly.

Nothing in this Procedure limits any legal right. A complaint about the handling of personal data may be made to the Information Commissioner's Office at any time, whether or not the internal procedure has been used.

Matters disclosing a criminal offence, including mileage falsification or fraudulent documentation, may be referred by the Register to the police, trading standards or the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, and the complainant may report them independently.

The Register treats complainants courteously and expects the same. Where correspondence becomes abusive, or where the same matter is repeatedly re-submitted after a review decision without new grounds, the Register may restrict correspondence to a single channel and say so in writing, with reasons.

Complaints made in bad faith, or reports known to be false, may themselves be investigated and may constitute a breach of the Workshop Participation Agreement where made by a participating workshop.

Every complaint, its category, its outcome and the time taken are recorded. Anonymised aggregate figures are published in the Register's integrity statistics.

Case records are retained in accordance with the Data Retention and Disposal Schedule (NVSR-DRP-001).