Arbitration and dispute resolution

• The committee rules on disputes between sellers of financial services and their customers. Their customers can therefore approach the committee for a ruling.
• The seller can be a financial undertaking or other entity that provides financial services that fall under the authority of the committee and is party to the agreement on the establishment of the committee or has requested that a case that falls under the committee's jurisdiction be discussed and decided upon by the committee.
• Sellers should inform customers in a reliable manner of their options to refer cases to the committee.
• Attention is drawn to the fact that before a customer can submit a complaint to the committee, the seller must have rejected the customer's claim or the case has not been resolved amicably within four weeks of the customer filing a complaint to the seller.
• Complaints to the committee must be in writing, in Icelandic or in English. The committee accepts complaints and supporting documents electronically. 
• No case will be accepted for processing until the legal fees have been paid.

All information can be found at https://nefndir.is/english/

• The Icelandic Financial Services Association and the Consumers´ Association of Iceland established a company for the operation of two complaints committees. The purpose of the committees is to provide consumers with cost-effective and swift access for the resolution of disputes without having to go to court.   
• The committee consists of five committee members, two appointed by the Financial Services Association, two by the Consumers' Association and one by the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs. The member appointed by the Minister is also the chairperson of the committee. 

• The party that presents its case to the committee is called the plaintiff.
• The plaintiff can be a consumer, legal entity or individual in a business operation who believes that he/she is entitled to compensation from insurance, including liability insurance, or has other interests to protect due to an insurance contract, cf. Act no. 30/2004 on Insurance Contracts, and Act No. 62/2019 on Insurance Distributors.
• The articles of association of the committees collectively refer to insurance companies, claims settlement centres, and other insurance distributors as the "defendant." See more in Article 2 of the articles of association of The Insurance Complaints Committee.
• Disputes must concern litigations regarding insurance contracts or other disputes regarding the distribution of insurance or insurance activities in other respects. 
• Defendants should inform parties who believe they are entitled to compensation or have other interests to defend that may fall under the jurisdiction of the committee of their option to refer cases to the committee.
• Attention is drawn to the fact that before the plaintiff can apply to the committee, the defendant must have rejected the plaintiff’s claim or failed to resolve the case amicably within four weeks of the plaintiff submitting the case and the necessary documents to the relevant insurance company.
• Complaints to the committee must be in writing, in Icelandic or in English. The committee accepts complaints and supporting documents electronically.
• No case is taken up for processing until the legal fees have been paid.

All information can be found at https://nefndir.is/english/

• The Icelandic Financial Services Association and the Consumers´ Association of Iceland established a company for the operation of two complaints committees. The purpose of the committees is for consumers to have cheap and fast access for the resolution of disputes without having to go to court.   
• The committee consists of three members, one appointed by the Financial Services Association, one by the Consumers' Association and one by the Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs. The member appointed by the Minister is also the chairperson of the committee. 

• Information page of the complaints board for goods and services

• ECC Iceland is part of the ECC network (European Consumer Centre Network), which operates in 30 European countries.
• The purpose of the network is to provide consumers who buy goods or services from a seller in another European country with information, instructions and assistance in the event of a dispute arising from the transaction.
• The consumer assistance covers, among other things, travel, air travel, car rental, online shopping and other product and service purchases.
• More information can be found at https://ecc.is/en/
• Overview of the complaint boards and alternative dispute resolution committees of the European Consumer Centre in Iceland

• Online Dispute Resolution (ODR)
  • The European Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) is a platform that enables online retailers and traders in the EU, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein to resolve disputes arising from online purchases of goods or services without having to go to court.
  • More information can be found at ODR – ECC in Iceland

• FIN-Net is a collaborative platform of 27 European countries, together with Iceland, Norway and Lichtenstein, which is designed to make it easier for consumers to resolve disputes with financial companies when transactions take place between European countries. 
• FIN-NET is intended to make it easier for consumers to resolve disputes out of court when transactions take place in a country other than their home country.
  • Further information can be found here: Financial dispute resolution network: FIN-NET | European Commission (europa.eu) 

• The Central Bank of Iceland instructs clients of regulated entities in accordance with the government's obligation to provide guidance pursuant to Article 7 of the Administrative Procedures Act.
• The Central Bank of Iceland strives to advise consumers on the options available to them to enforce their rights, i.e. which parties have a final say in those cases and other general guidelines.
• The Central Bank of Iceland does not have the power to rule on individual disputes nor does it determine the rights or obligations of parties under private law or resolve disputes over the merits of cases.