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What is the Ombudsman?

The Ombudsman is a person who provides assistance to bank clients to resolve out-of-court disagreements with Latvian banks regarding their actions or services provided. At the same time, it should be noted that an ombudsman is an independent person in making decisions. Its only task, after objectively evaluating the circumstances, is to reach an agreement between the bank and the client through mediation.

The Ombudsman is registered in the database of consumer out-of-court dispute resolvers in Latvia.

In what cases should I contact the Ombudsman?

The Ombudsman examines applications submitted by both private individuals and legal entities.

The most common issues of dispute concern topics such as communication problems between the bank and the customer, non-issue of money from the ATM, money lost as a result of revisions, etc.

The main thing to keep in mind is that the settlement of an out-of-court dispute is recommended. The decision is only binding on the parties if the parties (bank and client) have agreed in writing that the result of the dispute resolution is binding and they agree to it.

In what cases can the Ombudsman not review a dispute?

The Ombudsman can refuse to review a dispute if, for example, the basis of the dispute is a transaction with a large amount of money exceeding € 50,000. The same may happen in cases where the issue of the dispute concerns an insignificant amount of money which is less than € 10. Applications will also be rejected for issues related to document forgery.

You should not contact the Ombudsman if more than a year has passed since the complaint was submitted to the bank, or an application regarding the complaint has already been filed with the court. Finally, the Ombudsman does not consider identical, repeatedly submitted applications from the same person.

How to submit your application?

If the problem situation has not been resolved bilaterally with the bank, please learn about the Ombudsman’s provisions and regulations, and fill out the application, as well as consent to the processing of personal data.

When submitting your complaint, you should also expect that it will be necessary to pay a security deposit in the amount of € 20. If the complaint remains unresolved or no agreement is reached, the deposit will be refunded. If the complaint investigation case is terminated or the complaint is rejected in full, the security deposit will not be refunded.

Ombudsman’s contacts

Aivars Graudiņš
Phone
: +371 67284562
E-mail: ombuds@financelatvia.eu