Disputes arise daily between banks and their customers. Relations between insurance companies and their policyholders are also frequently marred by disagreements. To help resolve these issues, the government established the Financial Services Quality Observatory (OQSF), which houses financial mediators.

For Insurance, since 2009, the mediator has been contacted on 1726 disputed cases, related, among other things, to "Fires, Accidents and Miscellaneous Risks", education annuities, savings etc. The total amount of these cases is around 1.7 billion CFA francs, informed the mediator Amadou Kane Diallo, during a meeting with journalists.

"Insurance companies are slow to produce compensation..."

In most of the cases submitted to them, policyholders complain that "insurance companies are slow to produce compensation quickly." "And once these companies agree on the compensation amounts, the settlements are also very delayed," explains Mr. Kane.

However, the mediator in charge of the insurance sector assures that many things are being done to improve this and push insurance companies to "react much more quickly."

Reimbursement difficulties, disputes over wrongful debit entries...

Regarding banks, microfinance institutions, and others, from 2011 to the present day, 3,800 cases have been officially handled. This is "not including the calls to the toll-free number, which number around 6,000," says Banda Diop, a financial mediator responsible for disputes related to banks and similar institutions.

The causes of the disputes are: "difficulties in repaying credit, wrongful debits, disputed entries and bank mobility." However, the mediator assures that they are working with stakeholders in the ecosystem to find solutions, relying primarily on the recommendations contained in the studies.

A little-known tool that offers its services to citizens

The problem with mediators today is that the public is largely unaware of the existence of this system dedicated to them. Indeed, contacting a financial mediator is free. And it saves the parties from having to engage in lengthy and costly legal proceedings.

"The Senegalese should know that if you have a problem with your insurance company, your bank or similar, if you raise the problem with them and it is not resolved in less than two months, you are entitled to contact the mediators who will resolve the problem free of charge," said Mr. Kane.