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Media Room |
Consumer Inquiries & Complaints |
Between October 1 and December 31, 2003, the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC),
received 3,975 contacts, up from 3,749 contacts during the previous quarter,
from July 1 to September 30, 2003.
Ninety-eight per cent (3,891) of the communications were from consumers, contacting
FCAC with their inquiries and complaints regarding the financial services industry.
While most consumers (3,672) were looking for information, some (219) contacted FCAC
with compliance-related or adherence matters.
The remaining two per cent (84) of communications were from federally regulated financial institutions.
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Consumer Inquiries and Complaints
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General inquiries |
2,217 |
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General complaints |
1,455 |
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Inquiries about compliance/adherence matters |
20 |
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Complaints about compliance/adherence matters |
199 |
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Total Consumer Inquiries and Complaints |
3,891 |
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Complaints and Filings from Financial Institutions
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Self-reported complaints |
431 |
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Filings by financial institutions |
412 |
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Total Complaints and Filings from Financial Institutions |
84 |
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Total Contacts |
3,975 |
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Method of Contact |
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Phone calls |
3,485 |
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Letters |
189 |
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E-mails |
235 |
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In-person visits |
3 |
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Other |
633 |
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Total |
3,975 |
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Consumer Inquiries and Complaints
The following chart provides a breakdown of the types of consumer inquiries and complaints received for the period.
*
The following graph provides a regional breakdown of consumer inquiries and complaints received for the period.
Twenty-nine per cent of the contacts FCAC received this past quarter were from consumers living in Ontario,
while 24 per cent were from Quebec and 14 per cent were from Alberta.
Click here to view the table that outlines the number of contacts FCAC received,
by province and by category (table opens in a new window).
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Compliance/Adherence Matters
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Compliance Cases Opened (includes self-reported complaints, consumer complaints) |
242 |
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Compliance Cases Closed |
349 |
(includes cases outstanding from previous periods) |
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Number of violations of the law |
6 |
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Number of cases of non-adherence to industry's codes of conduct |
11 |
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FCAC opens and reviews hundreds of compliance cases each year covering a wide range of
consumer issues under federal financial legislation. In cases when a compliance
officer, after gathering the facts of a case, believes that a financial institution may
have violated a consumer provision, these cases are forwarded to the Commissioner for
review and a decision.
The Commissioner's Decisions
posted on our Web site represent only those cases that were escalated to the Commissioner for his
final decision. These decisions are published to inform consumers about their rights when dealing with
federally regulated financial institutions. They also provide a sample of the types of compliance
issues FCAC has reviewed, and the work FCAC has been doing to protect financial consumers.
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