Ombudsmann-Tätigkeitsbericht 2015

ankenverband
In 2015, 2,376 complaints were not followed up by
the complainants. These were mostly cases where
the complainant failed to submit missing documents
or withdrew the application for Ombudsman Scheme
proceedings. These cases were not adjudicated by the
ombudspersons. A total of 2,943 of the complaints
received in 2015 were inadmissible or ineligible under
the Ombudsman Scheme Rules. These included, for
example, complaints where the complainant was not
a customer of the bank concerned or did not qualify
as a consumer and an exception under Section 2 (1) (b)
of the Ombudsman Scheme Rules did not apply either.
In some 1,570 of the inadmissible complaints, it was
not possible to finally clarify the matter through the
presentation of documents, so that further evidence
would have had to be taken to enable a decision by
an ombudsperson. In these cases, the ombudspersons
refrained from adjudicating in accordance with Section
4 (4), sentence 3 of the Ombudsman Scheme Rules. In
addition, the ombudspersons took no action in 780
cases, as the claim concerned was already barred under
the statute of limitations and the bank had pled the
statute of limitations.
Where banks examine a complaint internally and
find it to be legitimate, they offer redress or remedial
action. Ombudsman Scheme proceedings are then no
longer necessary. Often, simply explaining banking
procedures or sometimes complex and abstract
banking transactions in plain language takes care of
any disputes in advance.
In addition, the Ombudsman Scheme Rules stipulate
that the ombudspersons are not allowed to adjudicate
Overview of number and outcome of complaints received annually: 2011–2015
Year 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
Total number of complaints 8,268 7,180 6,551 108,564 2) 22,245 3)
Complaints not followed up by customers 1,590 996 845 5,573 2,376
Inadmissible/ineligible 1) complaints under the
Ombudsman Scheme Rules
2,585 2,495 2,357 4,413 2,943
Admissible complaints under the Ombudsman Scheme Rules 4,093 3,689 3,349 98,579 4) 16,926 5)
Complaints resolved in favour of customer (also partly) 2,182 1,825 1,796 94,347 14,302
Compromise proposed by ombudsman 197 585 481 326 222
Complaints resolved in favour of bank 1,714 1,279 1,072 2,490 1,459
1) Admissible complaints under the Ombudsman Scheme Rules which the ombudsman nevertheless refrains from adjudicating because
further evidence-taking would be necessary.
2) Of the 108,565 complaints, 102,834 concern consumer loan processing fees.
3) Of the 22,245 complaints, 15,483 concern consumer loan processing fees.
4) Of the 98,579 admissible complaints, 4,416 are still being processed.
5) Of the 16,926 admissible complaints, 943 are still being processed.
Source: Association of German Banks; as at 31 August 2016.
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