Financial Consumer Ombudsman

What is the Financial Consumer Service System (SAC)? It is the consumer service system that entities supervised by the Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia must implement in order to fulfill each of the purposes set forth in Law 1328 of 2009.

You can turn to the Financial Consumer Ombudsman's Office (DCF) if you have any disagreement, complaint or suggestion regarding any product or service related to BMI COLOMBIA COMPAÑÍA DE SEGUROS DE VIDA S.A.

The complaint or suggestion must be submitted in writing and filed, at your choice, through any of these channels:

By email: defensoriabmi@legalcrc.com
Physical address: Carrera 10 No. 97A-13 ofc. 502 - By fax: (601) 610 81 64
Office hours: 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Receipt of PQRs (petitions, complaints and claims) and conciliation function. Website: https://ustarizabogados.com/

Principal Financial Consumer Ombudsman: José Federico Ustariz González.

Alternate Financial Consumer Ombudsman: Diana Milady Castaño López.

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Consequences of breach of the insurance contract

Find out what happens if the obligations of the insurance contract are not met.

Inaccurate or incomplete disclosure of the risk, non-payment of the premium or failure to report changes in the state of the risk may affect the validity or term of your policy, under articles 1058, 1060 and 1068 of the Commercial Code.

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It is important that you, as a financial consumer, know the matters that the Financial Consumer Ombudsman may hear, which are the following:
Serve the financial consumers of the corresponding entities in a timely and effective manner.
Hear and resolve, objectively and free of charge for consumers, the complaints they submit, within the terms and under the procedure established for that purpose, regarding a possible failure by the supervised entity to comply with the legal or contractual rules or internal procedures governing the performance of the services or products they offer or provide, or regarding the quality thereof.
Act as conciliator between financial consumers and the respective supervised entity under the terms set forth in Law 640 of 2001, its regulations, or the rules that amend or replace them. For this purpose, the financial consumer and the supervised entity may bring the matter to the attention of the respective Ombudsman, explicitly stating their wish for the case to be handled under the conciliation function. To perform this function, the Ombudsman must be certified as a conciliator in accordance with current regulations.
The document recording the conciliation reached between the supervised entity and the financial consumer must be signed by them and by the Financial Consumer Ombudsman as evidence that it took place in their presence; it shall be enforceable and shall have the effect of res judicata, without needing to be filed with a Conciliation Center. Failure to comply with it shall entitle the complying party to enforce it through the respective legal channels.
Act as spokesperson for financial consumers before the respective supervised entity.
Make recommendations to the supervised entity regarding services and financial consumer care, and in general on matters within the scope of its activity.
Propose to the competent authorities any regulatory amendments that may be advisable for the better protection of the rights of financial consumers.
Any others assigned by the National Government whose purpose is the proper development of the SAC.
The Consumer Ombudsman's Office shall be an institution focused on the special protection of financial consumers and, as such, shall perform the following functions with autonomy and independence:
Serve the financial consumers of the corresponding entities in a timely and effective manner.
Hear and resolve, objectively and free of charge for consumers, the complaints they submit, within the terms and under the procedure established for that purpose, regarding a possible failure by the supervised entity to comply with the legal or contractual rules or internal procedures governing the performance of the services or products they offer or provide, or regarding the quality thereof.
Act as conciliator between financial consumers and the respective supervised entity under the terms set forth in Law 640 of 2001, its regulations, or the rules that amend or replace them. For this purpose, the financial consumer and the supervised entity may bring the matter to the attention of the respective Ombudsman, explicitly stating their wish for the case to be handled under the conciliation function. To perform this function, the Ombudsman must be certified as a conciliator in accordance with current regulations.
The document recording the conciliation reached between the supervised entity and the financial consumer must be signed by them and by the Financial Consumer Ombudsman as evidence that it took place in their presence. It shall also be enforceable and shall have the effect of res judicata, without needing to be filed with a Conciliation Center. Failure to comply with it shall entitle the complying party to enforce it through the respective legal channels.
Act as spokesperson for financial consumers before the respective supervised entity.
Make recommendations to the supervised entity regarding services and financial consumer care, and in general on matters within the scope of its activity.
Propose to the competent authorities any regulatory amendments that may be advisable for the better protection of the rights of financial consumers.
Any others assigned by the National Government and the Superintendencia Financiera whose purpose is the proper development of the SAC.
Those that do not correspond to or are not directly related to the ordinary course of the operations authorized for BMI COLOMBIA COMPAÑÍA DE SEGUROS DE VIDA S.A.
Those concerning the employment relationship between BMI COLOMBIA COMPAÑÍA DE SEGUROS DE VIDA S.A. and its employees.
Those arising from the status of shareholder of BMI COLOMBIA COMPAÑÍA DE SEGUROS DE VIDA S.A.
Those relating to the recognition of benefits and of disability, old-age and survivors' pensions, as well as the recognition of indemnities or sums insured under the insurance contract, except those related to the quality of service in the recognition in either case, in which event they shall be heard by the Financial Consumer Ombudsman.
Those referring to matters that are pending or have been resolved through judicial, arbitral or administrative proceedings.
Those corresponding to the decision on the provision of a service or product, the execution of a contract and its conditions, or the onboarding or admission as a client.
Those referring to events that occurred three (3) years or more before the date the complaint is filed.
Complaints concerning the same facts and affecting the same parties that have already been the subject of a prior decision by the Financial Consumer Ombudsman.
Complaints whose individual amount, adding all items together, exceeds one hundred (100) current legal monthly minimum wages at the time they are filed”.
Rights:
To receive products and services with safety and quality standards, in accordance with the conditions offered and the obligations assumed by the company.
To have available transparent, clear, truthful, timely and verifiable advertising and information on the specific characteristics of the products or services offered and/or provided. In particular, the information provided by the respective entity must be such that it allows and facilitates its comparison and understanding with respect to the different products and services offered on the market.
To demand due diligence in the provision of the service by the supervised entities.
To receive adequate education regarding the different ways of using the products and services offered, their rights and obligations, as well as the costs they generate, the markets and type of activity carried out by the supervised entities, and the various protection mechanisms established for the defense of their rights.
To respectfully submit inquiries, petitions, requests, complaints or claims to the supervised entity, the Financial Consumer Ombudsman, the Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia and the self-regulatory bodies.
To request information from the Insurance Company about the commission percentage it pays the intermediary in relation to the insurance products they have purchased.
Duties:
To make sure that the entity with which they wish to contract or whose products or services they wish to use is authorized and supervised by the Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia.
To learn about the products or services they intend to purchase or use, inquiring about the general conditions of the transaction.
To follow the instructions and recommendations given by the supervised entity on the handling of financial products or services.
To review the terms and conditions of the respective contract and its annexes, and to keep the copies of such documents provided to them.
To learn about the bodies and channels the entity has available for submitting petitions, requests, complaints or claims.
Financial Consumers shall have the duty to provide true, sufficient and timely information to the supervised entities and to the competent authorities whenever they request it for the due fulfillment of their duties, and to update data as required.
To obtain a timely response to each product or service request.
Supervised entities shall have the following special obligations:
Provide information to the public regarding the Financial Consumer Ombudsmen, in accordance with the instructions issued on the matter by the Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia.
Deliver the product or provide the service properly, that is, under the conditions disclosed, offered, or agreed upon with the financial consumer, and use adequate security and quality standards in providing them.
Provide understandable information and transparent, clear, truthful, and timely advertising about the products and services they offer in the market.
Have a Financial Consumer Service System (SAC), under the terms set forth in this law, in the decrees that regulate it, and in the instructions issued on the matter by the Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia.
Refrain from engaging in conduct that entails contractual abuse or from agreeing to clauses that may affect the balance of the contract or give rise to an abuse of a dominant contractual position.
Draft the contracts and annexes governing relationships with customers clearly, in characters legible to the naked eye, and make them available to customers for their acceptance. A copy of the documents supporting the contractual relationship must be available to the respective customer and shall contain the terms and conditions of the product or service, the rights and obligations, and the interest rates, prices, or fees and the method for determining them.
Refrain from making charges not agreed upon or not previously disclosed to the financial consumer, in accordance with the terms established in the applicable regulations, and make available to the consumer the receipts or supporting documents for payments, transactions, or operations carried out through any channel offered by the supervised entity. The retention of such receipts and supporting documents shall comply with the applicable regulations.
Refrain from making any charge for pre-litigation collection expenses without having carried out a real activity effectively aimed at such collection, and without having previously informed the financial consumer of the amount of such expenses. Collection efforts must be carried out respectfully and at appropriate times.
Keep confidential the information provided by the financial consumer that is confidential under the terms established in the corresponding regulations, without prejudice to its disclosure to the competent authorities.
Provide certification of the status and/or specific conditions of the products as of a given date, when requested by the financial consumer, in accordance with the procedure established for that purpose, except in those cases in which the supervised entity is required to do so without prior request.
Handle and respond in a timely manner to requests, complaints, or claims filed by financial consumers, following the procedures established for that purpose, the provisions set forth in this law, and any other applicable regulations.
Provide the human, physical, and technological resources needed so that branches and agencies offer efficient and timely service to financial consumers.
Allow their customers to check the status of their products and services free of charge, at least once a month, through the channels designated by the entity.
Have on their website a link to the section of the Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia website dedicated to financial consumers.
Report to the Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia, in the manner it indicates, the price of all products and services offered on a mass basis. This information must be permanently disclosed by each supervised entity in its offices, the ATMs in its network, and its website.
Inform financial consumers, within the time frames set by the Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia, through the respective channel and prior to carrying out the transaction, of its cost, if any, giving them the option of whether or not to carry it out.
Have suitable electronic means and controls in place to provide efficient security for transactions, for the confidential information of financial consumers, and for the networks that contain it.
Cooperate promptly and diligently with the Financial Consumer Ombudsman, judicial and administrative authorities, and self-regulatory bodies in gathering information and obtaining evidence in the cases that require it, including, among others, cases of fraud, theft, or any other conduct that may constitute a criminal offense committed through the use of credit or debit cards, electronic or telephone transactions, or any other means.
Not request from the financial consumer information already held by the supervised entity or its departments, branches, or agencies, without prejudice to the financial consumer's obligation to update information when so required by the corresponding regulations.
Develop financial education programs and campaigns for their customers on the different products and services they provide, the customers' obligations and rights, the costs of the products and services they provide, markets and types of supervised entities, as well as the different mechanisms established to protect their rights, in accordance with the instructions issued for that purpose by the Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia.
Any others provided for in this law and in related, complementary, and regulatory provisions, those arising from the nature of the contract entered into or the service provided to financial consumers, as well as from the instructions issued by the Superintendencia Financiera de Colombia in the exercise of its functions and by self-regulatory bodies in their regulations.

Financial Consumer Ombudsman