EADR is sharing a public summary of EADR Complaint Statistical Analysis Report (2024–2025) completed as deliverable D5.1 under Work Package 5 of ADR4EU.
ADR4EU — Cross-Border Consumer Protection through ADR Innovation is an 18-month project led by EADR and co-funded by the European Union under the Single Market Programme. It aims to strengthen national and cross-border consumer protection by improving the outreach, efficiency, credibility and awareness of Alternative Dispute Resolution services
The Complaint Statistical Analysis Report for 2024–2025, highlights the importance of consistent complaint recording and closer monitoring of access to Alternative Dispute Resolution.The analysis reviews EADR’s internal complaint register to identify patterns, assess the quality of available data and develop recommendations for ADR service delivery.
What the analysis covers
The final dataset contains 113 eligible gambling-related complaints: 67 assigned to 2024 and 46 to 2025. It covers the analytical period from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2025, with later case updates observed through 15 January 2026. The work combined register reconciliation, deduplication, manual harmonisation and descriptive analysis.
These are historical records analysed through ADR4EU. Changes between the two years should not be attributed to the project or to the new case-handling system. The findings describe EADR’s caseload and cannot establish the prevalence of problems across the wider gambling market.
A clear priority: more consistent complaint data
The most significant data gap concerned the underlying subject of complaints. A substantive issue code was missing in 93 of 113 records (82.3%). This limits the ability to identify recurring problems and compare complaint themes reliably.
Date, country and outcome information was more complete in 2025. However, changing completeness also affects comparisons. For example, 37 complaints assigned to 2024 lacked a valid received date, making monthly or quarterly comparisons unreliable.
Monitoring access to ADR
Operator non-participation, refusal or non-response was recorded in 1 of 67 cases in 2024 and 12 of 46 cases in 2025. The 2025 records involved consumers from seven countries. This pattern warrants further review of potential barriers to ADR access. Changes in narrative coding and the operator portfolio are among the possible explanations that must also be considered.
The report retained three signals for monitoring: historical concentration in an anonymised operator group, operator participation and access barriers, and low-volume fraud or technical-integrity allegations. None constitutes a finding of wrongdoing, causation or mass harm.
Reading closure and duration figures carefully
The proportion of cases with a terminal status rose from 79.1% in 2024 to 93.5% in 2025. A terminal status records the end of case handling and may include rejection or closure; it does not necessarily mean that the dispute was resolved successfully.
Median valid case duration was 52.5 days in 2024 and 35 days in 2025. The calculation used 18 and 41 cases respectively, and valid-duration coverage increased from 26.9% to 89.1%. The difference should therefore be interpreted cautiously rather than presented as proven improvement in processing speed.
Practical recommendations
The report recommends mandatory intake and closure fields with date validation; a controlled complaint-issue taxonomy; separate consumer-country, trader-country and licence fields; and clearer recording of participation, referrals and consumer impact. It also recommends regular reviews of participation, timeliness and cross-border patterns. These are recommendations from the analysis, rather than confirmation that all measures have been implemented.
How this supports ADR4EU
ADR4EU — Cross-Border Consumer Protection through ADR Innovation is an 18-month project led by EADR LTD and co-funded by the European Union under the Single Market Programme. Complaint analysis complements the project’s awareness activities, digital improvements to case handling, specialised staff training and peer learning.
D5.1 provides a historical evidence base for improving data collection and informing discussion about accessible dispute resolution. Download the accompanying public summary for the main findings and recommendations.
Learn more about ADR4EU: https://eadr.eu/eu-project-adr4eu
Co-funded by the European Union under the Single Market Programme. Project number: 101266924.
Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.