The Financial Ombudsman Service Centre is an independent part set up under Svilengrad Chamber of commerce and industry. We replaced a number of former complaints-handling schemes – including the Banking Ombudsman, Building Societies Ombudsman, Insurance Ombudsman, Investment Ombudsman, PIA Ombudsman and the SFA Complaints Bureau.

The job of the Financial Ombudsman Service is to help resolve individual disputes between consumers and financial firms. We are not a regulator, or a trade body, or a consumer champion. We settle disputes – without taking sides.

We consider each complaint on its own merits and make what we believe to be fair and balanced decisions – based on the individual facts and circumstances of each case.

Although we are impartial – like a judge – the complaints-resolution service we provide is not like going to court. We can get to the bottom of most complaints by writing to – or phoning – the people involved. Sworn witnesses, cross-examination and formal legal submissions are not part of our usual process. And we tell customers they do not usually need professional, legal or financial help to bring a complaint to us.

We cover complaints about most financial products and services provided in (or from) Bulgaria. Generally speaking, we can usually deal with a complaint as long as our rules cover:the firm concerned;the activity complained about; and the person (or persons) making the complaint;and as long as the complaint is made within the relevant time limits.

firms
We cover all retail financial firms regulated by the Bulgarian Law, as well as some financial firms that are not regulated by the Bulgarian Law– but that used to be covered by one of the old complaints-handling schemes (or that have agreed voluntarily to be covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service).

activities
We cover activities regulated by the Bulgarian Law– such as accepting deposits, providing insurance policies, and providing or advising on investment products – as well as some activities that are carried out by the firms we cover but are not regulated by the Bulgarian Law, such as loans and credit cards.

complainants
The complaint must be made by (or on behalf of): a private individual;a business with a yearly turnover of under 1 million EURO;a charity with a yearly income of under 1 million EURO; or a trust with net assets of under 1 million EURO.

In some circumstances we can also consider complaints from those who are neither customers nor potential customers (for example, employees covered by a group insurance policy that is held in the name of their employer).

time limits
We cannot normally deal with complaints where: more than six months have passed since the firm sent the consumer its final response and details of the ombudsman service; or more than six years have passed since the event the complaint relates to; or (if later) it is more than three years since the person complaining first became aware of the problem (or could reasonably be expected to have become aware of the problem).

We have discretion to waive these limits in exceptional circumstances – or where you, the firm, do not object. There are also some special rules on time limits that apply to mortgage endowment complaints.

We will not consider a complaint until you have had the chance to put the matter right. So you should investigate the complaint and decide how you want to respond to it. The complaints-handling rules set out by the Bulgarian Law require you to try to resolve complaints at the earliest opportunity.

The Bulgarian Law’s rules set out various time limits for dealing with complaints. These include the requirement to send your customer a final response – (or an explanation of why you are unable to do this) no more than 45 days from the date the complaint was received anywhere within your firm.

You must also send the consumer our contact details – with a copy of our leaflet, your complaint and the ombudsman.

This is your full response to your customer’s complaint. It should: give a summary of the complaint, setting out your firm’s final view on the issues raised in the complaint and the outcome of the investigation; state whether you acknowledge there has been any fault on your part;give details of any offer you are making to settle the complaint; and tell the customer about their right to refer the dispute to the Financial Ombudsman Service within six months, if they are unhappy with your response.

If, at the end of 45 days, you want more time – and the customer agrees to this – we will not automatically get involved. But you will still need to have told your customer about their right to bring their complaint to the ombudsman.

If the consumer does bring the complaint to us after 45 days, and we are satisfied that the complaint has special features that mean you clearly do need more time, then we may decide not to look into the complaint immediately. But we do not expect you to ask us for an extension of time as a matter of routine.

In the first instance, all consumer enquiries are dealt with by staff in our front-line customer contact division, who give consumers general advice and guidance on what to do if they are not happy witha financial service or product.

If consumers complain to us before they have given you the opportunity to put things right, we will refer the complaint on to you. If you can resolve the complaint to the consumer’s satisfaction at this stage, we will have no further involvement in the case.

But if the consumer remains dissatisfied, we can look into their complaint if: you have already sent your final response letter (and the consumer brings the complaint to us within six months of the date of that letter); or 45 days that normally apply have passed – and you have been unable to send the consumer your final response letter.

We decide what we believe is fair and reasonable in the circumstances of each particular case. This includes taking into account relevant law, codes of practice, and regulatory rules and guidance. Where the two sides of the story seem to be at odds, or the evidence is contradictory, we make decisions on the basis of what we believe is most likely to have happened, on the balance of probability. We are not bound by legal precedent, but we aim to be consistent in the way we deal with particular types of complaint.

Our approach will depend on the facts and merits of each individual case – but will generally involve mediation or conciliation. This is the informal way in which we try to resolve the majority of complaints brought to us by consumers. It can be quicker and more efficient than a formal investigation. Often, just by taking a fresh look at the facts – and identifying and agreeing the key issues as we see them – our adjudicators can come up with a solution that satisfies both sides. So our informal approach may involve our contacting you by phone to suggest a way forward.

If we are unable to resolve the matter over the phone, or if the nature of the case makes a written explanation more appropriate, we will confirm our position in writing. This will explain the adjudicator’s view on the case and will set out how, in the adjudicator’s opinion, the case should be resolved.

In some of our more complex cases, the adjudicator may issue an adjudication report. This is a formal document, setting out the details of the dispute, the findings of the adjudicator and any redress that the adjudicator considers appropriate. The adjudicator will send the report to both the firm and the consumer at the same time, and will give both parties the opportunity to respond.