The
Polish
Banking
Ombudsman
Scheme
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
REPORT
on
the Polish Banking Ombudsman activities
in 2010
Warsaw, February 2011
A. General information
The Polish Banking Ombudsman Scheme (PBO) at the Polish Bank Association
was established on March 1, 2002. In March 2010 Mrs. Katarzyna Marczyńska
was reappointed under the resolution of the Management Board of the Polish
Bank Association to third term as the Banking Ombudsman.
The PBO scheme gathers all member banks of the PBA and those cooperative
banks, which are not associated with the Polish Bank Association, but decided
to cooperate with the PBO.
The PBO closely collaborates with the Department of Consumer Protection and
Financial Markets Development in the Polish Bank Association.
The PBO activities are financed mostly with funds of the PBA member banks.
B. PBO activities in 2010 - facts and figures
Between January 1, 2010 and December 31, 2010, 1.165 claims were submitted
to the PBO.
Until December 31, 2010 the PBO concluded 1.117 disputes with awards as
specified below:

in favour of consumer – 174,

settlement by consent - 71

in favour of bank – 316,

dismissal or return of a claim – 556.
The subject matter of claims submitted to the PBO referred to:
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
bank accounts and deposits – 142,

bank credits – 854,

payments (including several types of bank cards) – 122,

securities – 0,

other issues – 47.
The average dispute value under the PBO scheme in 2010 was 3.654,97 PLN.
The average duration of proceedings concluded with award in the last year was
ca. 37 days.
C. Information about claims submitted to the PBO
The subject matter of the claims submitted to the PBO in 2010 referred mainly to
credits (78%), in particular mortgage credits. The most common causes of
litigation in this area were: principles determining the collateral value for a
transitional period (until registration in the Land Register – the bridging period
insurance, increased margin), as well as prohibited contractual clauses which
affect, for example, level of interest rates despite the existence of contractual
conditions. The number of claims increased significantly after media releases
regarding activities undertaken by the Office of Competition and Consumer
Protection or the Court of Competition and Consumer Protection.
Few claims concerning type and scope of consumer credit insurance were
registered in 2010. That could result from implementation of the Code of Best
Practices on the Polish bancassurance market in the field
of protection
insurances connected with bank products, which became effective on November
1, 2009.
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The number of claims submitted by debtor’s inheritors remained stable in 2010.
They demanded debt cancellation and accused banks of granting credits to old
and non-creditworthy people.
Additionally, customers have disputed rules for premature debt repayment
settlement by banks. One has to note that the regulation concerning banks in
this area were clearly set out in Article 8 of July 20, 2001 Consumer Credit Act
and most banks have relocated this provision to contracts. The most common
source of dispute in this field
stems from the fact that the borrower being not
familiar with the stipulations of the credit contact (not having it read thoroughly)
makes payment on arbitrarly selected dates and in amounts not agreed with the
bank, without making the bank aware of his intention to make early repayment.
This behavior results in failure on the consumer part to repay the loan in full.
Furthermore, few claims regarding investment funds were registered in 2010,
but there was clear increase in the number of claims regarding complex
products such as deposits associated with insurance. It
seems that most
disputes resulted from lack of knowledge concerning specific products on the
part of customers who accused banks of inadequate information about principles
of investment and potential risks, as well as of failure to provide information
materials.
In comparison with last years, the number of claims regarding banking card
frauds, as well as fraudulent cash dispenser transactions remains permanently
at the same level.
One has to emphasize that customers continued to perceive the Polish Bank
Association as a supervisory authority for banks and they assume that the PBO
authority is much broader than in reality. They often demand the PBO’s advice
in specific, individual matters, particularly before entering into credit agreements,
or present their opinion concerning banks activities over the phone.
D. Other activities of the Banking Ombudsman
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In addition to duties and responsibilities within the Polish Bank Association, in
2010 Mrs. Katarzyna Marczyńska was also engaged in the educational activity
and participated in several high-level decision-making bodies aimed at best
practices and alternative methods of dispute resolution promotion.
In close cooperation with the Warsaw Institute of Banking and Banking Law and
Information Centre, in 2010 Mrs. Marczyńska carried on her educational activity
among banking staff. At the invitation of the Polish National School of Judiciary
and Public Prosecution, the Ombudsman started training sessions for judges in
the fields of bankruptcy, banking and consumer laws.
She closely cooperated with the Rural Development Foundation and elaborated
on many documents regarding consumer protection on the financial market and
insolvency of individuals, who do not conduct any business activity.
Moreover, Mrs. Marczyńska permanently collaborates with the European
Consumer Centre, National Council of Consumer Ombudsmen and Federation
of Consumers providing professional advice to Customer Ombudsmen and
reliable information to customers on existing consumer redress mechanisms
connected with banks’ activities. In 2010 the Ombudsman promoted consumer
redress mechanisms during the conferences organized by Provincial Customer
Ombudsmen in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski and Spała (Poland).
She is also engaged in the educational activity among the academic
environment, e.g. she gave lectures on banking ethics, aimed at banking best
practices promotion to the Warsaw School of Economics’ students.
Carrying
the Banking Ombudsman duties, Mrs Marczyńska established last
year a stronger cooperation with the Office of Insurance Ombudsman in order to
promote the PBO activities among insurers, and participated in the meeting of
the Insurance Council by the Office of Insurance Ombudsman, dedicated to
customers rights observance.
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Mrs. Katarzyna Marczyńska strongly supports the economic and consumer
“RELIABLE COMPANY/ WHITELIST” programme, aimed at corporate ethics
promotion.
Mrs. Marczyńska held a meeting with the Presidium of the Banking Ethics
Commission at the PBA, during which she outlined the main causes of disputes
and customer feedback concerning violation of the Good Banking Practice
Principles by banks. At the request of various bodies operating within the PBA
information/ statistics on consumer complaints according to particular subjects
have been prepared.
E. Council of the Banking Ombudsman
The Council of the Banking Ombudsman is a body consisting of representatives
of governmental authorities and supervisory boards, as well as representatives
of consumer organisations, largest commercial banks and the Polish Bank
Association.
The principal statutory objectives of the Council include exchange of
experiences referring to bank services consumer rights protection, in particular:
- examination of main reasons of disputes between banks and consumers,
- deliberation of practical aspects of legal resolutions concerning bank services
consumer protection,
- analysis of subject matter and statistical structure of disputes submitted to the
PBO and awards entered,
- consultation on new projects concerning consumer rights protection,
undertaken by various institutions.
In January 2011 the Council of the PBA appointed members of the Council of
the Banking Ombudsman to third term. At the moment, the Council gathers
representatives of the institutions listed below:
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 Consumer Federation;
 Association of Polish Consumers;
 National Bank of Poland;
 Office of the Commissioner for Civil Rights Protection ;
 Office of Competition and Consumer Protection;
 Polish Bank Association;
 National Council of Consumer Ombudsmen;
 Polish Financial Supervision Authority;
 Bank Pocztowy SA;
 PKO Bank Polski SA;
 Bank Zachodni WBK SA;
 Bank Pekao SA;
 BRE Bank SA;
 ING Bank Śląski SA;
 Cooperative Bank in Raszyn, representative of the Cooperative Banks
Section of the Polish Bank Association).
Meetings of the Council are conducted by Mrs. Katarzyna Marczyńska, Banking
Ombudsman. The Secretary of the Council is Mr. Norbert Jeziolowicz, Director
in the Polish Bank Association.
The first meeting of the newly-appointed Council took place on February 1, 2011
. The main objective of the meeting was the exchange of opinions concerning
different aspects of consumer credit.
E. International cooperation of the PBO within the FIN-NET network
FIN-NET network was launched by the European Commission in February 2001
as a EEA financial dispute resolution network of national out-of-court complaint
schemes that are responsible for handling disputes between consumers and
financial services providers, i.e. banks, insurance companies, investment firms
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and others. The schemes cooperate to provide consumers with easy access to
out-of-court complaint procedures in cross-border cases. If a consumer in one
country has a dispute with a financial services provider from another country,
FIN-NET members will put the consumer in touch with the relevant out-of-court
complaint scheme and provide the necessary information about it.
The PBO at the Polish Bank Association is a member of the FIN-NET network
from the beginning of 2006.
Within the FIN-NET network, two claims from Lithuanian citizens and two claims
from Polish citizens were submitted to the PBO in 2010. They were submitted
for examination of the relevant Arbitration Courts – in Lithuania and UK.
Warsaw, February 2011
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STATISTICS
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