(1) The Federal Office of Justice may authorise private-law institutions to act as conciliation boards for the extra-judicial settlement of disputes
1. in the case of contracts of insurance with consumers within the meaning of section 13 of the Civil Code,
2. between insurance intermediaries or insurance advisers and policyholders in connection with the mediation of contracts of insurance.
Those concerned may apply to these conciliation boards; the right to appeal to the courts remains unaffected.
(2) A private-law institution may be authorised to act as a conciliation board if it satisfies the requirements for authorisation as a consumer conciliation board in accordance with section 24 of the Consumer Dispute Settlement Act (Verbraucherstreitbeilegungsgesetz) of 19 February 2016 (Federal Law Gazette I, p. 254). A recognised conciliation board is deemed to be a consumer conciliation board in accordance with the Consumer Dispute Settlement Act. The Federal Office of Justice includes the consumer conciliation boards in accordance with subsection (1) in the list in accordance with section 33 (1) of the Consumer Dispute Settlement Act, and announces the authorisation and the revocation or withdrawal of the authorisation in the Federal Gazette.
(3) The authorised conciliation boards are obliged to respond to each complaint regarding an insurer or insurance intermediary, an intermediary in accordance with section 66, and an insurance adviser.
(4) The authorised conciliation boards may levy a fee from the insurance intermediary, intermediary in accordance with section 66, or insurance adviser. In the case of manifestly improper complaints, a small fee may also be levied from the policyholder. The amount of the fee must be proportionate to the recognised conciliation board’s expenses.
(5) Conciliation boards recognised in accordance with subsection (1) inform the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority of the business practices of enterprises that have become known to them in their conciliation activities, if such business practices may have significant adverse effects on the interests of large numbers of consumers.
(6) Insofar as no private-law institution has been authorised to act as a conciliation board, the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection, in consultation with the Federal Ministry of Finance and the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy, assigns the tasks of the conciliation board to one of the higher federal authorities, or to a federal institute, by statutory ordinance without the consent of the Bundesrat, and regulates its procedures and the levying of fees and expenses. Section 31 of the Consumer Dispute Settlement Act applies accordingly. The conciliation board is deemed to be a consumer conciliation board in accordance with the Consumer Dispute Settlement Act, and must satisfy the requirements in accordance with the Consumer Dispute Settlement Act.