Insurance Ombudsman Schemes 2024

01.12.2024

An Insurance Ombudsman is an alternative dispute resolution service outside of the court dedicated to resolving complaints by customers against insurers or intermediaries. The Ombudsman scheme constitutes a significant element of every insurance market as it contributes to enhancing consumer protection and increasing trust in the insurance industry. Despite this importance, not all jurisdictions provide insurance consumers with easy and effective access to Ombudsman services. The issue is particularly apparent in the emerging markets. Moreover, Ombudsman Schemes to be found in European countries follow various different systems.

In pursuit of promoting good market practices, ELI SIG Insurance and the Swiss Insurance Ombudsman took the initiative to explore insurance ombudsman schemes. They invited experts from 10 representative European jurisdictions to report on their national Insurance Ombudsman schemes. The reports and a comparative analysis will be published in a monography as part of the AIDA Europe Research Series on Insurance Law and Regulation by Springer Cham.

The research project is led by Prof. Helmut Heiss and Dr. Marta Ostrowska from the University of Zurich and Mr. Martin Lorenzon and Dr. Ann-Catherine Nabholz from the Swiss Ombudsman of Private Insurance and of SUVA.

The book is expected to be published by the end of 2024.

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