Balance of SAL-Fin activity in 2018

Bucharest, March 12th, 2019 – SAL-Fin (Alternative Dispute Resolution Entity in Non-banking Financial Sector) presented its activity report for 2018, a document that reveals that nearly three-quarters of the requests received were settled in favour of consumers.

SAL-Fin received 232 alternative dispute requests in 2018, representing an increase of approximately 20% compared to 2017. A total of 175 files were finalized last year, of which 140 are related to requests submitted in 2018.  

The statistical analysis of these data indicates that, for 75% of the requests submitted for settlement, consumers chose the procedure for imposing a solution and for 90% of the conciliators opted for online settlement.

“The awareness of the facilities offered by the out-of-court settlement of non-bank financial disputes has led to an increase in the number of registered requests and issued solutions, which is an important step in the implementation of the ASF strategy to strengthen consumer protection” said the President of the Financial Supervisory Authority ASF), Mr. Leonardo Badea.

The most common disputes settled in 2018 arose as a result of the large differences between the amounts proposed by insurers in the claim files and the calculations that consumers receive as a result of the service units' assessments or findings, of the large differences between the amounts proposed by insurers and the maximum amounts provided in the insurance contracts, as well as the non-payment of amounts due for the rental of cars or their non-use, including penalties for consumers for delays in the payment of damages.

In this context, it should be noted that, of the cases settled last year, 73% represented decisions/terminations issued in favour of consumers, the rest representing cases of maintaining the initial situations.

Following the alternative dispute resolution, consumers received in 2018 a total final amount (generally, as a result of reassessments of compensations granted) of 1.128.154 lei, 654.000 lei more than the amount originally received, or about 2, 4 times.

„Statistical data at the end of 2018 show that, for many consumers who felt harmed in relation to the entities supervised and regulated by the ASF, conciliation is the right solution. The results of alternative dispute resolution can generate examples of good practice that can be the basis of any commercial transactions made by players in the non-banking financial market in Romania”, said Claudiu Stănescu, Coordinating Member of the SAL-Fin Coordination Council.

In addition to the free-of-charge alternative solution, another aspect that supports the benefits of this method is the average duration of a dispute settlement. For requests registered in 2018 there was an average of 40 days for the dispute resolution procedure by proposing a solution and an average duration of 58 days for the resolution procedure by imposing a solution.              

SAL-Fin organizes out-of-court settlement of non-bank financial, domestic or cross-border consumer disputes with the help of conciliators with professional training and certified competencies in the non-banking financial market. Conciliators propose or impose a dispute resolution solution in a balanced, impartial, independent and free-of-charge way for consumers. At the end of 2018, 23 conciliators were registered with the SAL-Fin Conciliators Registry.

Through its work, SAL-Fin takes important steps in enhancing the stability of the financial market and increasing the level of protection of consumer rights.

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About SAL-Fin

SAL-Fin (Alternative Dispute Resolution Entity in Non-banking Financial Sector) was established within the ASF on the basis of Government Ordinance no. 38/2015 on alternative dispute resolution between consumers and traders, transposing Directive 2013/11/EU on alternative dispute resolution for consumer disputes and amending Regulation (EC) No. 2006/2004 and Directive 2009/22/EC at national level.

About ASF

ASF is the national authority set up in 2013 through OUG 93/2012 approved by Law 113/2013, for the regulation and supervision of insurance markets, private pensions and the capital market. ASF contributes to strengthening the integrated operating framework of the three sectors, which amounts over 10 million participants. More information can be found at www.asfromania.ro.

Despre ASF

ASF este autoritatea naţională, înfiinţată în anul 2013 prin OUG 93/2012 aprobată prin Legea 113/2013, pentru reglementarea şi supravegherea pieţelor asigurărilor, a pensiilor private, precum şi a pieţei de capital. ASF contribuie la consolidarea cadrului integrat de funcţionare a celor trei sectoare, care însumează peste 10 milioane de participanţi. Mai multe informaţii puteţi găsi pe www.asfromania.ro.