Complaints

Great Lakes Insurance SE (Great Lakes) uses delegated authority to manufacture and distribute [retail and SME] insurance products via Agency and/or Coinsurance Agreements. This means that whilst we will appear in your policy documents as the Underwriter, we outsource services such as claims and complaint handling to selected Agents. You should be able to find the contact details for our Agent on your insurance documentation, e.g. the Insurance Product Information Document (IPID) that was issued when you purchased cover. Details of their complaint process can also be found in your policy documentation.

You should complain directly to our Agent, who will contact you and try to resolve your complaint. Agents must satisfy our complaints standards and follow the complaint handling rules according to local legislation, it's part of our agreement with them.

Most of the time our Agent will be able to resolve your complaint, but if you remain unhappy, you may be able to use an Alternative Dispute Resolution service (ADR). The ADR you are referred to will likely differ depending on the jurisdiction and you can use the European Commission’s Online Dispute Resolution service to identify a suitable ADR service.

In those jurisdiction where Great Lakes is a member of specific financial services or insurance related local ombudsman services you have also the possibility to approach such ombudsman services.

Germany:

Please note that Great Lakes is not a member of the German Insurance Ombudsman Association.

UK:

If your complaint is about a UK product and you remain unhappy after our Agent provides their final response or 8 weeks have passed, whichever is sooner, you may be able to ask the UK Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) to carry out an independent review of your complaint.  The FOS is a free and impartial service that exists to help resolve complaints and their contact details are below:

The Financial Ombudsman Service

Exchange Tower
London 
E14 9SR

0800 023 4567

You can also visit their website at www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk where you will find further information.

Italy:

To learn more about complaints handling in relation to our Italian branch and/or our Italian insurance products and the possibilities to involve the local ombudsman, please refer to our dedicated subsite which you can find HERE.

Switzerland:

If your complaint is about a Swiss product and you remain unhappy after our Agent has dealt with your complaint, you may be able to ask the Swiss Ombudsman of Insurance to carry out an independent review of your complaint.

Please visit their website at http://www.ombudsman-assurance.ch where you will find further information

Australia:

To learn more about complaints handling in relation to our Australian branch and/or our Australian insurance products, please refer to our dedicated subsite which you can find HERE.

Great Lakes is committed to the oversight of outsourcing agreements and has robust systems and controls in place to monitor that our Agents are treating customers fairly.