Strasbourg, 1 December 2006

Dear Ms C.,

On 24 November 2005, you complained to the European Ombudsman about reimbursement of costs by the Brussels Settlements Office of the Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme for Officials of the European Communities.

On 5 January 2006, I forwarded your complaint to the President of the European Commission with an invitation to submit an opinion. The Commission sent its opinion on 18 April 2006. I forwarded the opinion to the address that you had provided in your complaint and invited you to submit observations by 30 June 2006. In light of the fact that no observations had been received from you by that date, my services contacted you on 19 September 2006 to inquire whether you considered the matter to have been settled. You informed them that you had not received the opinion. I invited you again to submit observations on the Commission's opinion by 31 October 2006. No observations have been received from you.

I am writing now to let you know the results of the inquiries that I have made into your complaint.

THE COMPLAINT

The complainant purchased a pair of glasses in January 2005. Subsequently, she submitted a claim to the Brussels Settlements Office of the Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme for Officials of the European Communities ("Settlements Office") for partial reimbursement of the costs incurred. In a letter of 18 May 2005, she was informed of the amount of the refund.

In her complaint, the complainant stated that she was still awaiting payment despite numerous e-mails (not provided in the complaint) to which she never received a response. The complainant also stated that she had tried to telephone the Settlements Office (though not indicating the dates of the telephone calls in the complaint) in order to ask about the state of affairs regarding her claim. However, she stated that she had received an automatic message that the Settlements Office was not answering any telephone calls. She stated that "with unanswered emails and phone calls it is IMPOSSIBLE to extract ANY information from this unit". She also stated that she had exhausted all other avenues, and that she therefore complained, albeit with great reluctance, to the European Ombudsman.

The complainant alleged that the Settlements Office (i) had failed to pay the refund amount, and (ii) had failed to reply to her numerous e-mails and telephone calls.

The complainant claimed that the Settlements Office should pay the refund amount.

THE INQUIRY

The Commission's opinion

In its opinion, the Commission made the following remarks:

After proceedings for the dissolution of the marriage between the complainant and her husband (a Commission official), the Settlements Office provided the complainant with a personnel number from a special series to enable her to submit directly her own and her children's medical expenses until the divorce decree became final. The number was valid from 1 July 2004 until 31 May 2005.

On 9 February 2005, the complainant's ex-husband submitted, under his own personnel number, a request for reimbursement of medical expenses for the purchase of a pair of glasses for the complainant. The invoice was returned to him as the complainant was no longer covered by his personnel number.

Following the resubmission of the invoice, a request for reimbursement was registered on 26 April 2005 under the complainant's own provisional personnel number. The corresponding financial statement was issued on 12 May 2005. The Commission's bank account was debited on 19 May 2005 by the amount due. The bank account number on the debit form corresponds to the one which appeared on the financial statement. The Commission verified whether the money had been placed in a holding account or had been returned to the Commission. Neither of the two possibilities proved to be the case. The complainant never submitted any other request for reimbursement of medical expenses. The Commission suggested that the complainant should ask her bank branch to look into the matter.

As regards alleged failure to reply, no trace of the complainant's contacts with the Settlements Office could be found. When a person telephones the secretariat of the Settlements Office , he/she receives an immediate answer or is asked to provide further information, in writing, regarding the relevant issue. The secretariat had not received any written communication from the complainant. The Commission had searched for traces of the complainant's communication in the Settlements Office's mailbox from her work e-mail addresses as well as from her private e-mail address provided in her complaint to the Ombudsman. No e-mail from the complainant could be found.

The complainant's observations

The complainant made no observations on the Commission's opinion.

THE DECISION

1 Alleged failure to pay

1.1 The complainant alleged that the Brussels Settlements Office of the Joint Sickness Insurance Scheme for Officials of the European Communities ("Settlements Office") had failed to pay the refund amount for a pair of glasses that she had purchased.

1.2 In its opinion, the Commission stated that a request for reimbursement of medical expenses for the purchase of a pair of glasses was registered on 26 April 2005 under the complainant's provisional personnel number. The corresponding financial statement was issued on 12 May 2005. The Commission stated that its bank account was debited on 19 May 2005 by the amount due, and that the bank account number on the debit form corresponds to the one which appeared on the financial statement. The Commission verified whether the money had been placed in a holding account or had been returned to the Commission. Neither of the two possibilities proved to be the case. The Commission suggested that the complainant should ask her bank branch to look into the matter.

1.3 The complainant did not submit any observations.

1.4 The Ombudsman understands the financial statement, mentioned in the Commission's opinion, to refer to a payment to be made to a bank account number provided by the complainant for the purposes of reimbursement of medical expenses. The Ombudsman notes that, on the basis of the information provided by the Commission, such a payment was actually made. Moreover, the complainant has not submitted any observations contesting the factual accuracy of the Commission's opinion regarding this aspect of the case. In these circumstances, the Ombudsman finds no maladministration by the Commission regarding the alleged failure to pay. The Ombudsman further concludes that the claim for payment appears to have been satisfied.

2 Alleged failure to reply

2.1 The complainant alleged that the Settlements Office had failed to reply to her numerous e-mails and telephone calls.

2.2 In its opinion, the Commission stated that no trace of the complainant's contacts with the Settlements Office could be found. When a person telephones the secretariat of the Settlements Office, he/she receives an immediate answer or is asked to provide further information, in writing, regarding the relevant issue. The secretariat had not received any written communication from the complainant. The Commission had searched for traces of the complainant's communication in the Settlements Office's mailbox from her work e-mail addresses as well as from her private e-mail address provided in her complaint to the Ombudsman. No e-mail from the complainant could be found.

2.3 The complainant did not submit any observations.

2.4 In light of the information provided in the Commission's opinion concerning this aspect of the case and taking into account that the complainant has not provided any evidence of her alleged contacts with the Settlements Office, such as copies of her e-mails or the dates of the telephone calls, nor made any observations regarding this aspect of the case during the present inquiry, the Ombudsman finds no maladministration by the Commission regarding the alleged failure to reply.

3 Conclusion

On the basis of the Ombudsman's inquiries into this complaint, there appears to have been no maladministration by the Commission. The Ombudsman therefore closes the case.

The President of the Commission will be informed of this decision.

Yours sincerely,

 

P. Nikiforos DIAMANDOUROS