Citizens Advice and Trading Standards referrals

Public gateway

Why Citizens Advice is involved

The consumer service gives first-line advice and records trader intelligence in a form that can be shared through the enforcement system. This prevents every local Trading Standards service having to operate an identical public complaint desk and helps information about traders be matched across areas.

Do not describe the route as a guaranteed handoff. The adviser considers the information available and the enforcement service makes its own prioritisation decision.

Enforcement choices

Why some reports are prioritised

Enforcement bodies have finite resources and public duties. Serious safety risks, vulnerable consumers, deliberate deception, repeat offending, large numbers affected, significant loss and evidence of an ongoing practice may increase public importance. A technically valid individual dispute may still be better resolved through the trader, card provider, ADR or court.

Present facts that show scale or risk without exaggeration. Separate what you personally know from what another person reported or what you infer.

Useful intelligence

Information that helps identify the trader and conduct

• Legal and trading names, address, company number, website and marketplace profile.
• Dates, locations, prices, payment method and how the sale was made.
• The full advertisement, listing, contract, receipt and correspondence.
• Product model, batch, serial number or safety marking where relevant.
• A clear description of the representation, omission, pressure or unsafe act.
• Information about repetition or other affected consumers, with its source.

Your own outcome

Run the personal claim separately

Ask the trader for the remedy, use payment protection where available, and consider ADR or court action. State the legal or contractual basis without implying that a Trading Standards referral has already decided the facts.

Do not wait for an enforcement update if a chargeback, ombudsman or limitation deadline is approaching. Trading Standards may be unable to tell you whether intelligence is being used.

Across the UK

The gateway is not identical everywhere

Advice Direct Scotland is the national consumer advice service for Scotland. Consumerline provides consumer advice in Northern Ireland. Enforcement structures and legal routes differ, so use the appropriate official service rather than applying the England and Wales description automatically.

Connected advertising

When an ASA route may also apply

If an advertisement, social post, promotion or price claim influenced the purchase, preserve it. The ASA may assess the advertising under the CAP or BCAP Codes. That is separate from Trading Standards intelligence and from your refund or contract claim.

Understand advertising and promotion complaints

After reporting

Keep a controlled case record

1. Record the advice service contact and reference.
2. Keep the material submitted and any corrected version.
3. Continue the trader and redress route.
4. Update the advice service if significant new safety or pattern evidence emerges.
5. Do not claim that enforcement action is under way unless an authority has confirmed it.

After referral

What may happen to the information

Information can be assessed with other intelligence about the trader, product or practice. Trading Standards may decide that another authority is better placed, monitor the information, contact the trader, undertake a test purchase, investigate or take no immediate action. The reporting consumer may not be told which option was chosen because investigations and intelligence handling can be confidential.

This uncertainty does not make reporting pointless. Good intelligence can reveal a pattern that no single consumer can see. It does mean the report should not be treated as the plan for obtaining an individual remedy.

Safety

Unsafe products need precise identifying information

Stop using the product where continued use could create harm. Keep the product, packaging and proof of purchase if it is safe to do so. Record model, serial and batch numbers, importer or manufacturer information, warnings, plug or charger details and the failure. Check official recall and product-safety notices.

Do not recreate a dangerous failure for a video. Explain any injury or property damage and preserve professional reports. Immediate danger may require an emergency response before the consumer advice route.

High-risk trading

Doorstep, pressure and vulnerable-consumer concerns

Record how the trader approached the consumer, what was said about urgency or authority, whether cancellation information was provided and whether the consumer's age, illness or vulnerability appeared to be exploited. Preserve leaflets, vehicle details, phone numbers, bank information and descriptions of the individuals involved.

If a crime or immediate safety risk is suspected, use the appropriate police route as well. Do not arrange another meeting simply to collect evidence.

Report quality

Separate facts, documents and inference

State what you personally saw or heard, then identify what a document shows. Put third-party information in a separate paragraph and name the source where appropriate. If you infer a wider pattern from reviews or public reports, label it as an inference rather than established fact.

A precise, restrained report is easier to assess than allegations using legal labels without supporting facts.

Redress

If the consumer needs money back

Send the trader a remedy request and evidence. If card or linked credit was used, check chargeback or Section 75. Identify an applicable trade association, ADR scheme or ombudsman. If court is proportionate, follow pre-action conduct and check limitation. None of these steps depends on Trading Standards confirming an investigation.

Official sources

Check the current official route