Financial services and cross-border consumer complaints

FIN-NET is based on co-operation between national dispute settlement bodies and claims to be the first fully functioning cross-border alternative dispute resolution (ADR) network in the European Union. The new Guide aims to help European citizens to understand and use the FIN-NET network and to boost consumer confidence about buying financial services in another Member State.

Internal Market Commissioner Frits Bolkestein said today:

"FIN-NET makes it much easier to complain 'cross-border'. It will help businesses and consumers to resolve disputes fast and efficiently without lengthy and expensive legal action."

The Guide gives consumers information about:

• what to do if they have a complaint against a financial services provider in another Member State;
• procedures for settling consumer financial services disputes out of court in the European Economic Area (the European Union plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein);
• how FIN-NET works; and
• how to contact the national complaint schemes participating in FIN-NET.

The guide is available by calling 00 800 6789 1011. At the time of writing, the guide was not available on-line.