The Motor Ombudsman has recorded the highest ever volume of service and repair cases brought by consumers to its dispute resolution service in a single quarter.

Between 1 January and 31 March this year, 1,604 new cases about routine and ad hoc maintenance conducted by repairers, were logged by motorists under The Motor Ombudsman’s Motor Industry Code of Practice for Service and Repair.

This equates to a 35% rise versus the opening three months of 2023 (1,189), and surpasses the previous high of 1,372 seen in the fourth quarter of last year.

Service and repair disputes have accounted for nearly a fifth of the total cases (9,183) opened by consumers under The Motor Ombudsman’s four Motor Industry Codes of Practice during the first quarter of 2024.

Similarly, 24,000 phone calls from consumers were received during the same period – an increase of 56% compared to January to March 2023.