CISAS | ConsumerWise

When CISAS is the right route

CISAS is an Ofcom-approved ADR scheme operated by CEDR for communications providers that subscribe to it. Do not choose between CISAS and Communications Ombudsman by preference: check which approved scheme your provider belongs to.

CISAS considers disputes about communications services, bills, customer service and related contracts within its scheme rules. Its published eligibility guidance also identifies exclusions, including claims outside scope and certain categories better dealt with elsewhere.

Before you apply

Complain to the communications provider first. Ofcom reduced the standard ADR waiting period for communications complaints to six weeks for relevant complaints raised from 8 April 2026, but always check the provider’s current deadlock/final-position letter and the live scheme rules before calculating eligibility.

How CISAS decides

CEDR describes CISAS adjudication as evidence-based. A legally trained adjudicator considers the consumer application, the provider defence, relevant law/regulation, contract terms and what is fair and reasonable. The remedy you ask for and the evidence supporting both breach and loss therefore matter.

Challenge and service complaints

Do not assume a general merits appeal exists. Scheme rules govern finality and any correction/review mechanism. Complaints about CEDR’s service are a separate issue from disagreement with an adjudication. If the decision is unacceptable, check whether you remain free to pursue the underlying provider through another lawful route, including court, before taking any step that may settle the dispute.

Prepare before you refer the case.

Write a short chronology.
Identify the exact complaint issues and the remedy sought.
Attach the final response/deadlock evidence.
Index the decisive documents instead of uploading an unexplained archive.
Check the live eligibility and deadline rules before submission.

The provider decides the scheme, not the consumer

Ofcom approves two principal telecom ADR schemes: Communications Ombudsman and CISAS. A provider belongs to one of them; you do not simply choose the scheme whose process you prefer. Check the provider’s complaints code or Ofcom/ADR information before applying.

For relevant communications complaints raised from 8 April 2026, Ofcom reduced the standard wait for access to ADR from eight weeks to six weeks, unless deadlock is reached earlier. Some older scheme pages or documents may still mention eight weeks, so the current Ofcom rule and live scheme materials should be checked together.

Present the dispute as an adjudication file

CISAS is administered by CEDR and uses an evidence-based adjudication process. A good application identifies each complaint issue, the contractual/regulatory basis relied on, the provider’s answer, the evidence that resolves the factual dispute and the remedy requested. Uploading a large unindexed email archive makes the adjudicator’s task harder.

For billing or credit-reporting disputes, distinguish the issues. A bill calculation, contractual liability, data accuracy and PRAAD credit-reporting notice can engage different questions even where they arise from the same account.

After the adjudication

Read the current CISAS rules before accepting or rejecting an outcome. Scheme finality, correction mechanisms and the effect of accepting a remedy depend on the ADR terms. A service complaint about CEDR administration is not automatically a merits appeal.

If you are considering court instead, identify the legal claim against the communications provider. The court route is not an appeal from CISAS; it is a separate judicial process governed by law and civil procedure.

Understand what the outcome can and cannot do

If an adjudication is issued, follow the scheme’s acceptance deadline and effect. Acceptance can make the outcome binding on the provider under the scheme. Do not assume that declining an award or missing acceptance leaves every alternative legal route unchanged without checking the relevant terms and limitation position.

Keep the routes separate.

Regulator, ombudsman/ADR, statutory appeal and court proceedings can have different purposes, powers and deadlines. Using one route does not automatically preserve another.

Build the complaint for an independent reader

CISAS uses independent adjudication, so write for a person who did not experience the dispute. Separate facts from argument and give an exact remedy. The scheme rules currently provide for awards up to £10,000, but jurisdiction and the type of recoverable remedy still matter.

If they say…	What to check or say back
“The provider says the complaint is not deadlocked.”	Expiry of the applicable waiting period can be an independent gateway.
“The issue is technical so ADR cannot deal with it.”	Technical complexity is not itself a jurisdiction exclusion; identify what the scheme rules actually exclude.
“The provider’s complaint notes are definitive.”	Explain any conflict with primary records.
“I want £20,000 because the conduct was serious.”	Check the scheme’s award limit and quantify a remedy within its powers; consider legal advice about any separate claim.

Check jurisdiction and timing before writing the full case

Do the gateway checks first. A perfectly argued complaint can still fail if it is sent to the wrong body, too early, too late or against a respondent outside the scheme.

Confirm that the provider participates in CISAS.
Complain to the provider first. Under the April 2026 CISAS Scheme Rules, complaints raised from 8 April 2026 can normally be referred after six weeks unresolved or earlier on deadlock; older complaints can retain the previous eight-week gateway.
Check the scheme’s subject-matter exclusions and monetary/remedy limits before applying.
Submit the key contract, bills, correspondence, technical evidence and loss calculation in an indexed form.

Is CISAS actually the right body?

CISAS, operated by CEDR, is an Ofcom-approved communications ADR scheme. It can decide eligible disputes involving participating communications providers. Provider membership is therefore a threshold issue.

Do not choose CISAS simply because you prefer its process; a provider generally belongs to one approved scheme. Ofcom remains the regulator and can receive regulatory intelligence, but does not replace CISAS for an individual eligible dispute.

Official sources

Check the current source material.

ConsumerWise explains these materials in plain English. Check the live source where a deadline, rule about what the body can deal with or legal requirement may have changed.