Internal Dispute Resolution

1. Purpose

The policy sets out the approach Finlease (Australia) Pty Ltd and its related entities (Finlease) will take to dealing with customer complaints received by Finlease.

2. Objective

Finlease aims to handle all complaints it may receive with the objectives of;

• resolving the complaint to the satisfaction of the complainant wherever possible
• identifying, where applicable, any underlying causes of potential complaints and taking action to minimise the risk of harm to customers of Finlease
• building the confidence of all stakeholders (including Finlease suppliers, ie funders, and relevant regulatory and oversight bodies) in the professionalism and integrity of Finlease 

3. Scope

This policy is informed by:

• Australian Standard AS/NZS 10002:2014 “Guidelines for complaint management in organizations”, and
• Australian Securities and Investments Commission Regulatory Guide RG271 “Internal Dispute Resolution”

3.1 Definition of a complaint

This policy adopts the definition of ‘complaint’ in AS/NZS 10002:2014 as an ‘expression of dissatisfaction made to or about an organization, related to its products, services, staff or the handling of a complaint, where a response or resolution is explicitly or implicitly expected or legally required. ‘

For the purposes of this policy the term ‘dispute’ is synonymous with ‘complaint’.

3.2 Resolution of a complaint

The outcome of ‘resolving a complaint to the satisfaction of the complainant’ is determined by the reaching of agreement with the complainant that the complaint is resolved and requires no further action by Finlease, nor referral to another body such as an external dispute resolution organisation or a regulatory or enforcement agency.  

The actual resolution may involve some action to change the circumstances that led to the complaint being made, or some other restitution (eg a refund, variation to an agreement or similar), or may involve a simple explanation or provision of additional information to the complainant, including information as to whether the complaint meets the definition of a complaint, or whether any action to resolve it is reasonable and practical to achieve.

For all complaints, Finlease will have due regard nature and circumstances of the complaint from the perspective of both the complainant and the other parties subject to the complaint.

3.3 Complaint Scenarios

3.3.1 Informal and Formal complaints via First Point of Contact

As a matter of course Finlease expects that any customer who is dissatisfied with Finlease, its services or products, would in the first instance raise this with their primary point of contact within Finlease (eg the relevant Broker or equivalent) and the Broker would endeavour to resolve the issue at first instance.

To the extent that such issues arise it is expected that most would be readily resolved by the Broker to the full satisfaction of the complainant.  In many cases complaints may be handled only by informal means – and a Broker may apply reasonable discretion as to whether such a matter needs to be tracked and reported under this policy

However Finlease has a preference that all complaints are recorded to facilitate the objectives of this policy to continually improve Finlease products and services and expressly requires the full application of this policy to a complaint if any of the following circumstances apply;

• the resolution of the complaint requires the intervention of another person (officer, manager, CEO, etc) within Finlease
• the resolution of the complaint requires any action from a 3^rd party
• the resolution of the complaint requires a formal variation to an existing agreement, including a refund or similar
• the complaint highlights an issue which may be recurrent or may affect other customers of Finlease, and for which a more generalised solution may be required

3.3.2 Finlease internally escalated complaints

Finlease encourages each of its customers to raise issues or concerns directly to its CEO.  Customers may themselves seek to escalate a concern to a higher authority within Finlease.

3.3.3 Complaints referred to Finlease by a 3^rd Party

Any complaint or dispute referred by an 3^rd party, ie someone other than the customer or Finlease, must be treated as a complaint under this policy.

Relevant 3^rd parties include:

• AFCA, the external dispute resolution body to which Finlease subscribes
• Any regulatory body or government agency
• Any professional association of which Finlease is a member
• Any other Finlease stakeholder, eg funders or other partners.

3.3.4 Indirect Complaints

This IDR policy anticipates that most complaints will be initiated by the complainant engaging with Finlease directly.

However, Finlease should also consider complaints referred to it by other parties, where it is possible to identify the complainant (as distinct to the referrer) and also possible to engage directly with the complainant in accordance with the expectations of this policy.

A referred complaint may include an issue identified in the media (including social media), subject to the requirement noted above that Finlease is able to uniquely identify and engage with the complainant.

3.3.5 Complaints Escalated to a 3^rd Party

A Finlease customer may at any time choose to refer their issue to an external party, including any of the following;

• The Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA)
• Any other government regulatory body, such as ASIC, the Privacy Commission, state based fair trading bodies, the ACCC, etc.
• A court

Finlease must then engage with the legitimate processes of the relevant 3^rd party, and may be limited in the extent to which it can continue to attempt to resolve the matter directly with the customer.

3.4 Complainants Right to Representation

Finlease acknowledges the right of a complainant to appoint a representative to deal with Finlease and/or other parties in the resolution of a complaint.

3.5 Complainants Right to Refer Elsewhere

Finlease acknowledges a complainant’s right to pursue their complaint through other channels, including EDR (ie AFCA), a regulatory authority or a court, remains at all times open to the complainant, irrespective of the status or outcomes of the complaint under this IDR policy.

4. Finlease IDR Governance, Management and Administration

4.1 Finlease CEO

The Finlease CEO has the following responsibilities in relation to this IDR policy:

1. Ensuring this IDR policy is adequately resourced
2. Ensuring the existence of the policy and the processes by which it operates are adequately communicated both to Finlease staff and contractors and to potential complainants, and that the complaints mechanism is accessible to all potential complainants
3. Reviewing the operation of the policy and the key learnings from complaints received at least once per year
4. Assuring that systemic issues arising from the IDR process are suitably resolved.
5. Assuring the integrity, independence, objectivity and fairness of the processes used to review and resolve complaints
6. If, as a result of reviewing a complaint under this IDR process, material evidence comes to hand about a potential or suspected breach of a law or regulation, consideration must be given to any obligation to report the findings to the relevant regulatory or law enforcement body.

4.2 Finlease Complaints Handling

The Finlease CEO must nominate suitable delegates to undertake the following:

1. Establishing within Finlease an operational IDR process as described in the Appendix, including providing adequate and accessible channels for potential complainants to access the process, and suitably promoting the existence of these access channels
2. Maintaining records of all complaints received, including all correspondence or other evidence adduced via the IDR process.  The records are to be stored with appropriate regard to the privacy and confidentiality of all parties.
3. Ensuring that any person assigned to investigate and determine the outcome of a complaint is independent of the parties to the complaint, ie the complainant and the person(s) to  whom the complaint relates.
4. Adequately monitor any outsourced or external parties engaged in the IDR process 
5. Maintaining a register or complaints for the purposes of;
   • Assuring the IDR process complies with the timeframes defined in this policy
   • Identifying any repeated or systemic issues
   • Supporting external reporting requirements
6. Report to the CEO at least annually on the operation and outcomes of the IDR process

4.3 External support

The CEO may choose to outsource any part of the process, including the review and determination of matters raised, to suitably qualified independent external parties.

The CEO may also appoint a suitably independent party to act in the role of ‘customer advocate’ to support a complainant in progressing their complaint through the IDR process.

4.4 External Reporting Obligations

Finlease may also have obligations to report on complaints received and how they are handled; including;

• Statutory requirements to report to bodies such as ASIC and AFCA
• Obligations to report to industry associtiations, ie CAFBA
• Contractual obligations to report to Finlease’s insurance provider
• Legal and regulatory obligations to report matters which are or are reasonably suspected to be reportable matters.

4.5 Customer Facing Commitments 

The process for making a complaint and also for responding to a complaint must be fully accessible (and free of cost imposed by Finlease) to all parties.

A complainant may at any point in the process chose to withdraw their complaint or request no further action on it by Finlease.

A complainant may request any information provided be held in confidence on the proviso that any such request would require the confidential information to be excluded from any review or determination in the matter.

Variations to response and resolution timeframes must only be by exception and based on consideration of the reasonable circumstances leading to the delay.  Any proposed variation in timeframes must be notified to the complainant in advance.

Appendix: Finlease IDR Process

The Finlease IDR process aims to provide a fair, efficient and timely resolution to individual complaints, as well as to support an adequate process to identify and resolve common causes of complaints as part of a continual improvement process.

The steps outlined below describe the principles, standards and core objectives of the IDR process.  The level of formality as well as the administrative and management oversight will vary according to the complexity of the individual complaint.  The appropriate handling of a complaint under this policy may be readily achieved via the simple exchange of a few emails or similar communication should that be sufficient to resolve the complaint.  More complex or contentious matters would naturally required a higher degree of disciplined process to be applied.

Step 1: Acknowledgment of Complaint 

Upon receiving a complaint, Finlease must acknowledge the complaint in writing (eg via email or other appropriate means) within two (2) business days. 

The acknowledgement must include:

• The name of the complainant
• The date the complaint was received
• A unique reference number for the complaint
• Details of the IDR process, including
  • anticipated timeframes
  • approach to confidentiality and privacy of information provided by the complainant
  • requirement to share information with relevant persons representing the party who is the subject of the complaint
• Contact details of the person responsible for handling the complaint

Step 2: Assessment of Complaint 

The complaint will be assessed by a person who is reasonably independent of the subject of the complaint.  If the complaint is about a person (as distinct to being a complaint about a service, product or operational practice of Finlease), that person must not be involved the assessment or outcome decision related to the complaint.

The assessment will include:

• Gathering relevant information and documents
• Considering the rights and obligations of all parties
• Determining whether the complaint can be resolved informally

Step 3: Attempt to Resolve Complaint Informally 

Finlease must make an attempt to resolve the complaint informally, if appropriate. The timeframe for informal resolution is within ten (10) business days of receipt of the complaint.  Informal resolution may involve:

• Contacting the complainant to discuss the complaint
• Providing an explanation of the circumstances leading to the complaint
• Offering an apology, if appropriate
• Offering a solution to the complaint, if appropriate

Step 4: Investigation of Complaint 

If the complaint cannot be resolved informally, the complaint will be investigated by a person who is reasonably independent of the subject of the complaint. The investigation will include:

• Gathering all relevant information and documents.  Parties from whom information is sought should be allowed a minimum of five (5) business days to respond.
• Gathering evidence from relevant parties, including via interview or similar means
• Providing the complainant with an opportunity to provide further information or evidence
• Considering the rights and obligations of all parties
• Determining whether the complaint is substantiated

Step 5: Notification of Findings 

Once the investigation is complete, Finlease will provide the complainant with a written response. The final response must be provided within thirty (30) business days of initial receipt of the complaint, and the response will include:

• The findings of the investigation, including a description of the information available to Finlease
• An explanation of the reasons for the findings
• Any proposed remedial action, if appropriate
• Details of the complainant’s right to escalate the complaint to an external dispute resolution scheme

Step 6: Escalation to External Dispute Resolution Scheme 

If the complainant is not satisfied with the outcome of the Finlease IDR process, they may escalate the complaint to an external dispute resolution scheme. Finlease must provide the complainant with details of the relevant external dispute resolution scheme and the steps involved in lodging a complaint with that scheme.

Step 7: Complaint Tracking, Reporting and Analysis 

All complaints under this policy are to be recorded in a manner that supports:

• timely and accurate reporting as may be required by external regulatory bodies
• review and consideration by Finlease senior management for the purpose of identifying common causes, systemic issues or similar matters for which appropriate systemic resolutions must be considered and applied.