What are the steps to settle a dispute with a financial services provider?

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Step 1

Prior to applying to Lietuvos bankas regarding the settlement of a dispute, you should apply to the financial services provider in writing, specifying the circumstances of the dispute and your claim. You should apply to the financial services provider by filing your claim no later than within three months of the day you became aware of the violation of your rights.

Please note that submitting a written consumer complaint with a specific claim to a financial market participant is a very important step, as many disputes are resolved amicably before Lietuvos bankas is called upon to handle a consumer dispute.

Upon receipt of your claim, the financial services provider must reply to you within 15 working days. In exceptional cases where it is not possible to reply within 15 working days, the financial services provider may extend the deadline for providing you with a final reply up to 35 working days but must inform you of this, stating the reasons for the extension.

Step 2

If you are not satisfied with the financial services provider’s reply to the claim or if you have not received any reply to the claim within 15 working days, you have the right to apply to Lietuvos bankas within a period of one year from the date of the claim filed against the financial market participant. If you miss this time frame, you can no longer apply regarding the same dispute.

Decisions regarding the subject matter of a dispute are public and are published on the website of Lietuvos bankas, without prejudice to the requirements for the security of personal data, state, office, commercial, bank, professional and other secrets protected by laws, as well as the consumer’s right to privacy.

Step 3

After considering the information provided, Lietuvos bankas, within 90 days, takes one of the following decisions of recommendatory nature:

• to satisfy your claim;
• to satisfy your claim in part;
• to reject your claim.

In complicated cases, the term for settlement can be extended for another 30 days.

Nevertheless, even when Lietuvos bankas has taken a decision, the parties to a dispute (you and a financial service provider) retain the right to apply to the court.

In taking a decision regarding the subject matter of a dispute, Lietuvos bankas, at the consumer’s request, decides on the expenses incurred by the consumer in relation to the procedure for out-of-court consumer dispute settlement (including indispensable expert examination or other expenses of investigation, lawyer or assistant lawyer and translation or interpretation services), remuneration.

The Board of Lietuvos bankas has assigned the settlement of disputes between consumers and financial market participants and taking decisions regarding them to the Legal and Licensing Department of Lietuvos bankas. Decisions on the merits of a consumer dispute are taken by the Director of the Legal and Licensing Department. Disputes are settled at Lietuvos bankas in accordance with the Rules for the Out-of-Court Procedure of Settlement of the Disputes between Consumers and Financial Market Participants in the Bank of Lithuania.

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