FINLAND Trends and Developments Contributed by: Jussi Laasonen and Saara Järvinen, Ruoholahti Law
tions in disputes between consumers and traders con - cerning individual consumer goods contracts, or other disagreements relating to the acquisition of consumer goods that consumers have referred to the Board. Fol - lowing the legislative reforms, the working group has assessed that consumers may more frequently have valid grounds, and therefore a lower threshold, for bringing their claims before the Consumer Disputes Board, which may increase the number of cases han - dled by the Board. In particular, lower-value claims are likely to be referred more often to the Consumer Disputes Board rather than to the courts. Resolving disputes related to insurance contracts Product liability matters are also handled by the Finn - ish Financial Ombudsman Bureau (“FINE”) and the Insurance Complaints Board operating under its aus - pices. The Insurance Complaints Board considers matters relating both to liability for compensation and to the interpretation of insurance policies. As stated in the report by the working group of the Ministry of
Justice, product liability-related matters have been brought before Insurance Complaints Board at a rate of no more than approximately five cases per year. That may be regarded as a very small number, given that FINE receives around 10,000 contacts annually, of which approximately one in ten is resolved as a dispute. The legislative reforms may increase interpretative disputes concerning the scope of insurance cover - age, particularly in relation to new types of damage. For example, issues and losses connected with artifi - cial intelligence and software may create uncertainty regarding the extent of insurance coverage. Since product liability claims in Finland are typically covered specifically through product liability insurance poli - cies, the potential increase in complexity, particularly in technology-related matters, is likely to affect FINE’s dispute resolution activities in future by increasing the number of cases requiring determination.
126 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook