Recommendation 2024-R-02 of July 2, 2024

on the Handling of Complaints

1. Context

The handling of complaints is a key issue for customer protection. Several texts, particularly of a legislative and regulatory nature, impose obligations on professionals in the banking and insurance sectors, especially regarding information about the complaint process and recourse to consumer mediation¹. Some professionals also offer a mediation scheme to their customers, acting for purposes falling within the scope of their commercial, industrial, artisanal, liberal, or agricultural activities.

Since 2011, the Prudential Control and Resolution Authority (ACPR) has recommended best practices to these professionals, with the objective of enabling:

• clear and transparent information on the modalities for accessing complaint handling and mediation schemes;
• efficient, equal, and harmonized handling of complaints;
• the implementation of corrective actions based on dysfunctions identified through complaints.

Certain market practices, identified notably through information received from customers, lead the ACPR to recommend best practices today which, like previous ones, aim to ensure that all concerned professionals adopt a simple and efficient organization allowing them to provide complainants with a qualitative and reasoned response as quickly as possible, and in any event within a period not exceeding two months, unless more restrictive provisions apply.

2. Scope of the Recommendation

A complaint is defined as the expression of dissatisfaction towards a professional, regardless of the interlocutor or service² with which it is made. It may come from any person, including in the absence of a contractual relationship with the professional: customers (individuals or professionals), former customers, beneficiaries, persons who have requested the professional to provide a product or service or who have been solicited by a professional, including their agents and successors.

A request for a service or performance, information, or advice is not a complaint³.

¹ The Financial Sector Consultative Committee also published a report on banking and insurance mediation on July 1, 2021. ² Including with a delegate or agent of the professional (general insurance agent, payment services provider agent, electronic money distributor...). 3 Cf. Annex: Illustrations of the notion of complaint.

The present recommendation addresses:

• insurance companies, mutual societies or unions of mutual societies, provident institutions or unions of provident institutions, additional professional pension funds, mutual societies or unions of additional professional pension funds, and additional professional pension institutions;
• credit institutions, credit managers, financing companies, payment institutions, account information service providers, electronic money institutions, and issuers of tokens referring to one or more assets mentioned in point a) of paragraph 1 of Article 16 of Regulation (EU) 2023/1114 of the European Parliament and of the Council of May 31, 2023;
• insurance intermediaries, intermediaries in banking operations and payment services, and intermediaries in crowdfunding.

Hereinafter referred to as "the professional(s)", including when they exercise their activity in France under the regime of free provision of services or free establishment.

Regarding account information service providers, the scope of this recommendation covers the handling of complaints related to the security of collected data.

3. Recommendation

To ensure the effectiveness of the complaint handling mechanism and facilitate access to the proposed mediation schemes, the ACPR recommends, in accordance with the provisions of Articles L. 612-1 II 3° and L. 612-29-1 paragraph 2 of the Monetary and Financial Code, that professionals:

3.1. On the organization of complaint handling and the associated means and procedures

3.1.1. Implement an organization for handling complaints that allows, regardless of the interlocutor or service³ with which the complaint was made:

• to identify complaints made by customers regardless of their channel of expression (written or oral);
• for complaints made orally (non-premium telephone number, customer reception area...) or via instant messaging that does not allow the complainant to have a dated copy of their complaint, to invite them to formalize their dissatisfaction using a durable written support⁴ if immediate full satisfaction cannot be provided;
• when an online form is offered by the professional, to ensure it allows the complainant to have a dated copy of their complaint;
• to transmit written complaints⁵ that the recipient is not authorized to handle to the competent interlocutor or service;
• to transmit to mediators all correspondence addressed to them;
• to acknowledge receipt in writing of a written complaint within a maximum period of ten working days from its sending. This acknowledgment of receipt indicates how to access the dedicated page referred to in 3.2.2 or, failing that, the information listed in 3.2.1⁶. This acknowledgment of receipt is not necessary if the professional responds in writing to the complaint within the aforementioned period;
• to respond:
  • in writing to any written complaint⁷,
  • in a clear, adapted to the specific case, and reasoned manner,
  • within the period committed to by the professional and, in any event, within two months from the sending⁸ of the first written manifestation of dissatisfaction, unless more restrictive legislative or regulatory provisions apply.
• to record written complaints, the responses provided, and to monitor their handling, including when this has been delegated in whole or in part.

3.1.2. Ensure that the organization for handling complaints does not rely on a multitude of distinct processing circuits or interveners for complainants.

3.1.3. Ensure that the response times applied are consistent with the subject of the expressed dissatisfaction⁹, particularly when it concerns an execution deadline.

3.1.4. Ensure that staff usually in contact with customers or likely to receive complaints:

• are trained in identifying complaints and their handling mechanism;
• can at any time refer to a support tool for identifying and directing complaints adapted to the professional's activities and the typology of dissatisfaction expressed by complainants.

3.1.5. Ensure that staff authorized to handle complaints have the skills adapted to this mission, and in particular a good knowledge of products, services, and contracts, applicable regulations, as well as internal tools and procedures.

⁵ Throughout this recommendation, the notion of "written complaint" means a complaint expressed on a durable written support; complaints made orally or via instant messaging (without handing over a dated copy of the complaint) are subject to the handling specified above. ⁶ Except for those of the 2nd bullet and those of the 1st which are no longer relevant given the organization retained by the professional. ⁷ Including when satisfaction is granted to the complainant, notably by performing an administrative act. ⁸ The postmark date is considered proof for complaints sent by mail. ⁹ It is recalled that these response times cannot exceed two months, unless more restrictive legislative or regulatory provisions apply (cf. point 3.1.1).

3.1.6. Define the principles of responsibilities and delegations related to the handling of complaints.

3.1.7. Formalize the organization for handling complaints in procedure(s) communicated to all concerned staff.

3.2. On the information enabling access to complaint handling and mediation schemes

3.2.1. Inform in clear and understandable language:

• on the practical modalities for making a complaint (postal address, website, email...);
• that the complainant is invited to formalize their dissatisfaction using a written complaint if they could not be given immediate full satisfaction in accordance with point 3.1.1¹⁰;
• on the organization retained by the professional to provide a response to a complaint and the processing times to which they commit¹¹;
• on the competent mediator(s) according to products or the nature of disputes, as well as on the practical modalities for seizing them. It is specified in particular when it is a consumer mediator that they can in any event be seized two months after the sending of a first written complaint, regardless of the interlocutor or service with which it was made and whether or not a response was provided.

3.2.2. Make the information referred to in 3.2.1 easily accessible¹², notably in customer reception areas and on a dedicated page of the professional's website not requiring prior identification of the complainant.

3.2.3. In any response, mention the mediator who can be solicited in the specific case, as well as the practical modalities for seizing them. It is specified in particular if this mediator can be seized without delay or, if not, and if it is a consumer mediator, that the latter can in any event be seized two months after the sending of the first written complaint addressed to the professional, regardless of the interlocutor or service with which it was made.

3.2.4. If necessary, include the information referred to in 3.2.3 for each competent mediator in the specific case, specifying for each of them what falls within their competence.

3.2.5. Avoid any designation or dissemination of information likely to cause confusion regarding the respective roles of a professional's service and a mediation scheme.

¹⁰ For complaints made orally or on a non-durable written support. ¹¹ Acknowledgment of receipt, response. ¹² Example: via a link on the homepage or the "contact" section of the site, a search using the word "complaint" in the site's search engine.

3.3. On the monitoring, control of complaint handling, and the taking into account of dysfunctions, shortcomings, or bad practices identified through complaints

3.3.1. Implement the means and procedures allowing:

• to identify, through written complaints¹³ and requests transmitted by a mediator, dysfunctions, shortcomings in regulatory compliance, or bad commercial practices, and to take, within reasonable timeframes, corrective measures to remedy them, notably regarding customers affected by an erroneous application of a legal, regulatory, or contractual provision;
• to analyze the quality of the complaint handling mechanism implemented, notably by examining the volume, nature, processing times of complaints, and the quality¹⁴ of responses provided;
• to submit, at least annually, to the appropriate governance bodies of the professional and their group, a summary comprising an analysis of the quality of the mechanism implemented, a description of any dysfunctions, shortcomings in regulatory compliance, or bad commercial practices identified through complaints, and corrective measures envisaged or implemented.

3.3.2. Define the modalities for implementation by agents¹⁵ and delegates usually in contact with customers or likely to receive complaints, of the best practices referred to in points 3.2.1 and 3.2.2, and ensure their effectiveness.

3.3.3. For entities required to have internal control, also integrate into the mechanisms implemented the best practices issued from this recommendation as well as the risks related to customer protection identified through complaints¹⁶.

This recommendation repeals and replaces Recommendation 2022-R-01 of May 9, 2022, as of its publication.

¹³ Including complaints addressed to the professional concerning the marketing of one of its products or services by another professional. ¹⁴ Presence of the information referred to in 3.1.1 (for acknowledgments of receipt), 3.2.3 and 3.2.4, clarity, adapted to the specific case, presence of relevant reasoning consistent with applicable provisions (legal, regulatory, contractual)... ¹⁵ General agent, payment services provider agent, electronic money distributor... ¹⁶ Including if the dysfunctions, shortcomings in regulatory compliance, or bad commercial practices are attributable, in whole or in part, to the action of a third party (example: intermediary, delegated administrator).

Annex: Illustrations of the notion of complaint

Complaints, characterized by the expression of dissatisfaction, can cover very diverse subjects. This annex aims to help professionals better identify them by providing some concrete examples¹⁷ for which difficulties in identification have been observed. The list of situations covered is therefore not exhaustive.

For example, a complaint is any dissatisfaction¹⁸ concerning:

• Advertising communications, notably their receipt;
• A sales technique (solicitation act);
• The quality of consent given or its absence;
• The content of commercial discourse;
• The quality of reception;
• Pre-contractual information or advice, including if the product or service was not subscribed to (absence, quality);
• The absence or delay in processing¹⁹ a request for information or communication of documents;
• The quality of a response provided;
• The absence or delay in executing an operation or paying benefits²⁰;
• The refusal to grant or subscribe to a product or service, including by a person who is not otherwise a customer of the professional;
• The pricing of a product or service (level, information...), including when the professional has pricing freedom;
• Compensation (refusal of coverage, amount of announced or paid benefits...);
• An appraisal (choice of expert, execution time, conclusions...);
• The failure to issue an attestation of refusal to open an account;
• The absence or delay in processing a request for termination/closure.

In the absence of any expressed dissatisfaction, the following requests are not complaints:

• Request for a commercial gesture or discount;
• Request for communication of documents;
• Request for execution of the contract (request for operation, performance...);
• Request for information or explanations (contract clauses, functioning of the product or service, procedure to subscribe or terminate a product or service, application of government measures...);
• Request for opinion or advice: of a legal type, on rights, on the choice of a contract based on a family situation.

¹⁷ For this same purpose, professionals can also refer to the questionnaire on customer protection and commercial practices as well as the associated filling guides. ¹⁸ Even if the dissatisfaction is expressed to report a practice and the complainant does not solicit a measure in their favor. ¹⁹ A complaint can take the form of a reminder letter. ²⁰ A complaint can take the form of a reminder letter.