Thursday, March 13, 2008

Not happy with your Financial Institution?

What can you do and who can you turn to for help if you have a problem with a financial product that you have bought or the service standards of a financial institution. There are 3 levels for you to seek help.

Level 1: The Financial Institution where you got the Financial Product

a) Look for the financial institution first as they have easy access to your records. All financial institutions are expected to deal with consumer problems and feedback fairly, promptly and consistently.
b) Speak to the staff who attended to you when you bought the financial product or service. If you do not know the name of the staff, contact the financial institution's Customer Helpline.
c) If this does not help, write a letter to the Quality Service Department or a senior person in the financial institution.

Level 2: Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre Ltd (FIDReC)a) FIDReC will only handle problem which remains unresolved with the financial institution.
b) FIDReC adopts a two-step process. First by mediation between the buyer and the financial institution. If still not settled, then Second step will be adjudication where a Panel of Adjudicators will decide on the dispute.
c) FIDReC's Panel of Adjudicators includes retired judges, senior counsel, senior lawyers and retired industry professionals.
d) These rulings are final and binding on the financial institution, but not on the buyer. If you are unhappy with the Panel's ruling, you can choose not to accept the decision of the Panel and pursue legal action or other resolution options.

Level 3: Legal Aid Bureau
a) Before taking legal action, you can consider approach CASE, the Singapore Mediation Centre (SMC) or the Small Claims Tribunal. They might be able to help.
b) Taking legal action should be the last resort as it can be a time-consuming and costly process. You can either engage your own lawyer or seek help from the Legal Aid Bureau. However, there are certain conditions to meet before the Legal Aid Bureau will help.

Summarised from www.moneysense.gov.sg

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I can see minced meats or body parts of insurance agents flying all over the place.
Suicide bomber? All you need is one suicide act of a customer to start an massive explosion.