Referring the French business ombudsman — dispute with a customer or supplier
The French business ombudsman helps company heads settle disputes amicably with another business or with the administration. The service is free, fast and confidential: every exchange takes place in the strictest confidence, which protects both commercial secrecy and the reputation of the businesses involved. Referral is made online through a six-part form, and a mediator makes contact within 7 DAYS to confirm they have jurisdiction and to set out a plan of action — including for persuading the other party to accept, since mediation is voluntary on both sides. Two conditions filter access: the parties must be in a business relationship, that is a regular professional or commercial relationship of some standing, and the dispute is generally for an amount above €1,500.
Up to date for 2026 — verified on September 11, 2026Official procedure, no printed formGuide: about 30 min
Deadlines
- 7 days for first contact
- The business is contacted by a mediator within 7 days of sending the request. They confirm they have jurisdiction and set out a plan of action.
- From a few hours to 2 or 3 months
- A mediation may last from a few hours to 2 or 3 months at most, depending on the difficulty of the dispute.
- Effect on time limits for legal action
- Between a business and a public body, time limits for challenging a decision are INTERRUPTED from the day the parties agree to mediate or, absent a writing, from the day of the first meeting: a fresh, identical period starts afterwards. Between businesses, time limits are SUSPENDED: they resume after the mediation without wiping out the period already run.
Documents to prepare
- Evidence of the business relationship: successive orders, framework contract, invoicing history
- The amount of the dispute, to be placed against the €1,500 guide threshold
- Identification of your company and of the business or organisation you are in difficulty with
- A statement of the subject of the dispute
- Documents useful to the mediator: purchase orders, invoices, emails of complaint (Word, PDF)
- The referral context: public contract or not, individual or collective step
No form is attached to this procedure: the link leads to the official page that describes it.
What this page gives you
The guide above and the link to the official site. ActioFin does not produce any document for this page: whatever you fill in or file is done on the official medium.
Who this applies to
- Businesses in dispute with a customer or supplier over payment terms, an abrupt termination of contract or the performance of a contract
- Small and medium businesses in dispute with a large company
- Businesses running into difficulty on a public contract
- Businesses facing a breach of a verbal agreement, or theft or misappropriation of intellectual property
- Businesses whose research or innovation tax credit has not been paid
- CANNOT refer directly: businesses subject to insolvency proceedings, which must go through the president of the commercial court
Worked example
Example: Composites Marchand facing a customer withholding €38,000
Composites Marchand has supplied an equipment maker for four years, with regular orders — so the business-relationship condition is met. For two quarters that customer has applied withholdings it considers unjustified and penalties it considers abusive, €38,000 in all: far above the €1,500 guide threshold. Rather than sue and lose the customer, the manager files a request online. The form asks for six things: the referral context — this is not a public contract, and the step is individual — details of his own company, details of the business he is having difficulties with, the subject of the dispute, and the documents he considers useful to put before the mediator: purchase orders, invoices, emails of complaint. He finally submits by ticking the confidentiality box, and receives an email confirming registration. A regional mediator calls back within seven days, confirms jurisdiction, then approaches the equipment maker to bring it to accept. The parties meet; a finding of agreement leads to a protocol drawn up and signed by them, which they may ask the competent court to endorse so that it becomes enforceable.
How to fill it in, step by step
- Check the business-relationship condition: the ombudsman may be approached where the parties are in a regular professional or commercial relationship of some standing — several successive purchases from the same supplier, for example.
- Place the amount: the ombudsman generally handles disputes above €1,500.
- Check you are not in insolvency proceedings: if you are, direct referral is closed, and you must approach the president of the commercial court that opened the proceedings so that it orders a court mediation — the business ombudsman may then be appointed by agreement of the parties.
- File a request online, completing the six parts of the form: the referral context (public contract or not, individual or collective step), details of your company or body, details of the business or organisation you are having difficulties with, the subject of your dispute, and the documents useful to the mediator.
- Submit the file finally by ticking the confidentiality box: a registration confirmation is then sent to you by email.
- Wait for the mediator's contact within 7 days, confirming jurisdiction and setting out a plan of action with you.
- Let the mediator approach the other party to bring it to accept: the process is voluntary, each party consenting freely and in good faith.
- If a finding of agreement is reached, set the shared solutions down in a protocol drawn up and signed by the parties, and where needed ask the competent court to endorse it so that it becomes enforceable.
The form, line by line
- Referral context
- First part of the form: public contract or not, individual or collective step. It routes the file to the right network of mediators.
- Details of your company
- Second part: identification of the party making the referral, company or body.
- Details of the other party
- Third part: the business or organisation you are having difficulties with.
- Subject of the dispute
- Fourth part: it is what lets the mediator confirm jurisdiction at first contact.
- Attachments
- The option to attach the documents you consider useful to put before the mediator, in Word, PDF and other formats.
- Confidentiality box
- Final submission of the file goes through the confidentiality box. A registration confirmation is then sent by email.
Good to know
- Mediation preserves the commercial relationship, where a writ ends it: that is its particular value, and strict confidentiality protects commercial secrecy as well as reputation.
- The business ombudsman reports to the Minister for the Economy and Finance. The network has 40 regional mediators, close to the businesses of their region, and 46 delegated national mediators, who handle complex files and support the regional teams.
- The ombudsman may be approached DURING court proceedings: it then assesses admissibility against how far the proceedings have gone, and the business may ask the judge to adjourn the hearing to start or continue mediation.
- The process is voluntary: each party consents freely and may end it whenever it wishes, notifying the mediator, who informs the other.
- Mediation may also end on the mediator's own initiative, where they consider it impossible; in every case they send the parties a letter informing them the file is closed.
- A signed agreement may be endorsed by the competent court so that it becomes enforceable — without that endorsement it has only the force of a contract between the parties.
- Non-payment of the research or innovation tax credit is among the grounds for referral — a point the businesses concerned often do not know.
Common mistakes
- Referring a one-off dispute with a party you are not in a business relationship with: the condition assumes a regular professional or commercial relationship of some standing.
- Referring an amount well below the guide threshold: the ombudsman generally handles disputes above €1,500.
- Referring directly while subject to insolvency proceedings: you must go through the president of the commercial court that opened them.
- Assuming it is too late because court proceedings have begun: the ombudsman may be approached during proceedings, and an adjournment may be sought from the judge.
- Confusing interruption with suspension of time limits: they are INTERRUPTED against a public body — a fresh, identical period starts — and SUSPENDED between businesses — the period already run is not wiped out.
- Failing to submit the file finally because the confidentiality box was not ticked.
- Expecting a ruling: the mediator does not decide, it is the parties who work out shared solutions.
- Signing a protocol and leaving it there when you need to be able to enforce it: endorsement by the competent court is what makes it enforceable.
Frequently asked questions
Who can approach the business ombudsman?
Businesses in a business relationship with the other party, that is a regular professional or commercial relationship of some standing, for disputes generally above €1,500. A business subject to insolvency proceedings cannot approach it directly.
What does it cost?
Nothing. The business ombudsman offers a free mediation scheme, and the process is carried out free of charge.
What does the referral form contain?
Six parts: the referral context (public contract or not, individual or collective step), details of your company or body, details of the business or organisation you are having difficulties with, the subject of the dispute, and the option to attach useful documents. Final submission goes through the confidentiality box.
How long does it take?
A mediator makes contact within 7 days of the request being sent, and a mediation may last from a few hours to 2 or 3 months at most depending on the difficulty of the dispute.
What if the other party refuses?
The process is voluntary: the mediator approaches the other party to bring it to accept, but each party consents freely and may end the process whenever it wishes. Where the mediator considers mediation impossible, they notify the parties that it has ended.
Is the agreement reached enforceable?
The parties may ask the competent court to endorse their agreement so that it becomes enforceable.
Go further
Compute the related amounts
Understand this form: the related course
Official sources
- entreprendre.service-public.gouv.fr — Preventing and resolving commercial disputes through the business ombudsman (checked 27 November 2024): free, fast and confidential service protecting commercial secrecy, reporting to the Minister for the Economy and Finance, network of 40 regional mediators and 46 delegated national mediators, business-relationship condition and €1,500 guide threshold, grounds for referral including payment terms, abrupt termination of contract, public contracts, breach of a verbal agreement, misappropriation of intellectual property and non-payment of the research or innovation tax credit, exclusion of direct referral in insolvency proceedings and referral to the president of the commercial court, referral possible during court proceedings, interruption of time limits against a public body and suspension between businesses, mediator's contact within 7 days, course of the process, duration from a few hours to 2 or 3 months, the ways mediation may end, and endorsement of the agreement to make it enforceable — September 11, 2026
- entreprendre.service-public.gouv.fr — Referring the business ombudsman (online service, issued by the Ministry for the Economy, checked 30 January 2026): free, fast and confidential amicable settlement scheme, and the six parts of the referral form — referral context, details of your company, details of the other party, subject of the dispute, attachments, final submission through the confidentiality box followed by an email confirmation — September 11, 2026
Guide and document provided for information purposes only; they do not constitute personalised legal or tax advice. Check the recipient organisation's requirements and consult a professional if needed.