Intervention procedure - Rzecznik Finansowy

A financial market entity has rejected your complaint? Do you want to fight for your rights, but you do not know what your rights are? Submit an application for intervention by the Financial Ombudsman.

1. What does the intervention procedure look like and how long does it take?

We will send the first claim to the financial institution within approximately 2 months of receiving such an application. You will receive a copy of it. The entire procedure usually takes about 3 to 12 months. It depends on the complexity of the case and the number of statements made by the Financial Ombudsman in a given case. As part of the intervention procedure, experts prepare arguments aimed at persuading the financial institution to change its position. However, the Financial Ombudsman is not able to issue a decision binding a financial market entity. This means that a financial market entity may not change their position.

If that is the case, a closing letter is prepared. It contains arguments that may be useful to you when deciding what to do next. On this basis, you will be able to decide about an amicable settlement of the dispute, e.g. in conciliation proceedings at the Financial Ombudsman. You can also try to resolve a dispute in civil proceedings before a common court.

2. Who can submit an application for intervention?

We help all natural persons, including those running a business, in disputes with financial market entities.

We do not take actions at the request of commercial companies, foundations, associations, churches and religious associations, the State Treasury, public administration bodies and offices serving them, local government units, cooperatives, state enterprises, health care institutions and any other legal persons and organizational units without a legal personality.

3. At what stage in the dispute can an application for intervention be made?

We can only take action if you have filed a complaint with a financial market entity and it has been rejected or your claims have not been fully considered.

You can also contact us in a situation where a financial market entity:

did not respond to the complaint within the applicable period
did not perform the actions resulting from the complaint considered in accordance with the customer’s will,
has not fulfilled other obligations under the Complaints Resolution Act (e.g. has not provided the contract with information on the procedure for submitting and considering complaints or has not provided the required information in response to the complaint).

4. How to submit an application for an intervention procedure?

It is best to use the application template (template available in Polish). Remember to send all the documents mentioned in the application template. If the application is submitted by an attorney, the form of the power of attorney should also be completed. In each case, the application should be signed by hand or with an electronic signature. If you want to send the application by e-mail (biuro@rf.gov.pl), please attach a photo or scan of such an application signed by hand.

An application sent by post should be addressed to:

Biuro Rzecznika Finansowego

ul. Nowogrodzka 47a

00-695 Warszawa

The administrator of personal data is the Financial Ombudsman with its seat in Warsaw, Nowogrodzka 47a st. The Administrator can be contacted at the e-mail address biuro@rf.gov.pl or in writing to the address indicated above with the annotation “personal data”. The Ombudsman has appointed a Data Protection Officer, who can be contacted at the following e-mail address: iod@rf.gov.pl

Personal data will be processed in order to perform the statutory tasks of the Financial Ombudsman, in particular to consider the application, to initiate and conduct the proceedings which are the subject of the application, and for archival purposes. The legal basis for the processing of personal data is Art. 6 (1)(c) of the general regulation on the protection of personal data (GDPR), i.e. fulfillment of a legal obligation.

Personal data may be transferred to entities cooperating with the Ombudsman as part of the performance of his statutory tasks and to external experts related to the contract with the Financial Obudsman’s Office.

The data will be stored for a period of 20 years from the end of the procedure. Each person has the right to access personal data, the right to request rectification, the right to request deletion, the right to request restriction of the processing of his/her personal data. Each person also has the right to lodge a complaint with the President of the Office for Personal Data Protection. Data submission is voluntary. Failure to provide data will result in the inability to conduct the proceedings.