Creditor Claims in Arbitration and In Court

This article compares debt collection cases brought by business claimants in arbitration-both individual AAA debt collection arbitrations and cases brought under a program of debt collection arbitrations administered by the AAA-to debt collection cases brought in court. This research adds new information to the policy debate over consumer arbitration. The differing win rates for business claimants and consumer claimants appear to result from two factors, neither of which provides evidence of bias in favor of business claimants. First, the types of claims businesses bring in arbitration tend to differ from the types of claims consumers bring.

Second, business claims are much more likely than consumer claims to be resolved on an ex parte basis-i.e., when the respondent fails to appear.