PREMIUM Insurance Company Limited, with its registered office at Level 3, CF Business Centre, Triq Gort, STJ 3061, St Julian's, Malta, registered with the Malta Business Registry under the registration number: C 91171 (hereinafter referred to as the “insurance company”), operating within the territory of the Czech Republic through the branch PREMIUM Pojišťovna, pobočka Česká republika, with its registered office at Pobřežní 620/3, 186 00 Praha 8 - Karlín, Czech Republic, company ID no.: 196 86 030, registred in the Commercial Register of the Municipial Court Prague, file: A 80427, within the scope of its powers receives, records and handles filings made by natural or legal persons as complaints by virtue of which they
- seek protection of their rights or interests protected by law endangered or infringed by any action or inaction of the insurance company; or
- draw attention to specific shortcomings in the activities of the insurance company, in particular, breach of any generally binding legal regulations, terms and conditions of insurance, internal regulations or other negative occurrences related to the activity of the insurance company.
Any filing made by any natural or legal person shall not be considered a complaint where:
- the filing is an enquiry by which no rights are claimed, or
- the filing points out activities of third parties with no legal relations vis-à-vis the insurance company, or
- by which objections to certain facts are made, or are appeals against decisions that deal with the substance (e.g. appeal against the amount of insurance benefits) and the content of which fails to imply any nature of a complaint, even if such filing is formally titled as a complaint.
The complainant, i.e. a natural or legal person entitled to file a complaint, is:
- policyholder (i.e. a person who has concluded the insurance contract with the insurance company and who has undertaken to pay the premiums),
- the insured (i.e. the person whose life, health, property, liability for damage or other values are covered by the insurance product (insurance) provided for in the insurance contract; if the insured has both concluded the contract and pays the premium, he or she is also the policyholder),
- the entitled person (i.e. the person who, as a result of the insured event, will be entitled to insurance benefits), or
- any other person whose rights were negatively affected by the insurance company's decision.
Complaints about the activities of the insurance company may be lodged:
- in writing at the address: PREMIUM Pojišťovna, pobočka Česká republika, Pobřežní 620/3, 186 00 Praha 8 - Karlín, Česká republika,
- in person at any branch of the insurance company during the business hours,
- electronically by sending an e-mail to: stiznosti@premium-ic.cz,
- by completing the contact web form, which is available HERE. When completing the contact web form, please make sure to select the appropriate form (complaint).
The complaint shall make clear who lodges it, in what matter the complaint is lodged, against whom the complaint is directed and what the complainant claims. In order to resolve the complaint promptly, it is appropriate for the complainant to indicate, in addition to the identification data, his/her contact address, telephone contact or e-mail address.
In case of incomplete information and documents substantiating the complaint necessary for the correct assessment of the complaint, the insurance company may ask the complainant to supplement it.
Complaints shall be handled without undue delay upon receipt, but no later than within 30 calendar days of receipt of the complaint. If, for serious reasons, the complaint cannot be settled within this period, the period may be extended up to a maximum of 60 calendar days from the date of receipt of the complaint. The insurance company shall inform the complainant (www.coi.cz/en/) of the extension of the deadline and the reasons for the extension within 30 calendar days from the date of receipt of the complaint.
Transferring the complaint to the Czech National Bank
If the complainant is not satisfied with the handling of his complaint by the insurance company, the complainant can address his complaint to the Czech National Bank, with registered office at Na Příkopě 864/28, 115 03 Prague 1 (see https://www.cnb.cz/en/public/contacts/complaints-concerning-financial-institutions/).
Transferring the complaint to the Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services in Malta
If the complainant is not satisfied with the handling of his complaint by the insurance company, the complainant can address his complaint to the Office of the Arbiter for Financial Services, with registered office at 1st Floor, St Calcedonius Square, Floriana FRN 1530, Malta (see https://www.financialarbiter.org.mt/).
Judicial and extrajudicial settlement of disputes with the insurance company
Disputes with the insurance company can be resolved in court or out of court. In the event of a judicial settlement of the dispute, the complainant may apply for a decision of the dispute to the competent court.
In the case of non-life insurance, the complainant as a consumer can submit a proposal for out-of-court dispute resolution to the Czech Trade Inspection (www.coi.cz/en/), with registered office at Štěpánská 796/44, 110 00 Prague 1, or to the Office of the Ombudsman of the Czech Insurance Association (www.ombudsmancap.cz) with registered office at Eliška Krásnohorská 135/7, 110 00 Prague 1.
In the case of contracts concluded online, if the applicant for insurance, the policyholder, the insured, the authorized person or the intended consumer, it is possible to use the platform for resolving consumer disputes, which is available at ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr.