rentalcar-refundComplaining about a car rental company in Belgium: FPS Economy (ConsumerConnect) and Belmed
You rented in Belgium and money left your card. The question that drives everything is not the name of the company, it is the country you rented in: that is what decides which authority you can turn to for free. In Belgium, the official route is this one, and it costs nothing: FPS Economy (ConsumerConnect) and Belmed.
What is the free remedy after renting in Belgium?
Since March 2024 the entry point is ConsumerConnect (consumerconnect.be), the consumer portal of the Belgian FPS Economy: a few questions and it directs you to the competent mediation service, and it lets you report the practice to the Economic Inspectorate. Belmed, the online mediation platform, has not gone away and is still available. All of it is free.
The official remedy in four lines
| Body | FPS Economy (ConsumerConnect) and Belmed (economie.fgov.be) |
|---|---|
| Cost | Free |
| Language | French or Dutch |
| Mandatory reply deadline | No statutory reply deadline, but filing forces the trader to explain itself in writing |
Step by step
- Written complaint to the rental company, with a fourteen-day deadline and the exact amount claimed.
- Report the practice to the FPS Economy contact point, online.
- Open a mediation request on Belmed, attaching your documents. The trader is invited to respond.
- If your dispute concerns a rental made in another EU country, the right channel is not Belmed but the European Consumer Centre Belgium.
Where to click, in order
We walked this path ourselves on 2026-08-18. The walls flagged below are the ones we hit, not the ones the law describes.
- ⚠️ Belmed only handles disputes with a trader established in Belgium. This is the most common confusion: a rental made in Spain or Portugal does not belong there, even if you are Belgian.
- Belgian rental company: on belmed.fgov.be, open a request and let it guide you to the competent body. Access normally goes through Belgian electronic identification, eID or itsme.
- Foreign rental company: the right body is the European Consumer Centre Belgium, at eccbe.eu. It forwards your case free of charge to its counterpart in the company's country, which is exactly what your letter no. 3 does.
- The platform is free, but the mediation body it directs you to may charge a fee. Check before committing.
Verified entry point: www.belmed.fgov.be.
What comes next, in the same country
- Mediation failed: the juge de paix, competent for everyday consumer disputes, with an accessible procedure.
- Written refusal from your bank on the card dispute: Ombudsfin, the banking ombudsman, free of charge.
Four more remedies, independent of this one
The country remedy is the second of five. The others do not depend on it and run in parallel: you only need one to succeed.
- Written complaint to the rental company, dated facts, exact amount, a 14-day deadline. It is the prerequisite every other procedure demands. Template
- European Consumer Centre of your country of residence, free, which refers the case to its counterpart in the company's country. The network covers the European Union, Norway and Iceland. Text
- Card payment dispute for services not provided and unauthorised charges, within 60 to 120 days of the charge, the deadline that expires first. Use your bank's secure messaging or complaints form, not a plain email. If the bank refuses, insist on a written and reasoned refusal: it is what opens the free financial ombudsman. Template
- Legal expenses insurance, often included in a car or household policy: the insurer appoints a lawyer at its own cost. Email
The arguments change with the type of dispute
The remedy above is the same whatever your dispute, but what you write in it changes completely. Pick yours.
Your letters, already filled in, in ten minutes
The portal writes the complaint to the rental company, the filing with FPS Economy (ConsumerConnect) and Belmed, the letter to the European Consumer Centre, the card dispute and the email to your broker, all in your name. It picks the right remedy automatically from the rental country you enter. Free, no commission, no power of attorney: you send them yourself.
All countries Rented somewhere else? The remedy changes, and so does the page. Portugal, Spain, Italy, Greece, Croatia, France, Cyprus, Malta, Türkiye.