Managing a dispute
Sometimes, projects don’t go to plan. Freelancers and companies can have a different understanding of the scope of the mission, the initial project description can be lacking in detail, there can be a change in the specifications, perhaps conflicting points of view during the project, or a lack of regular communication...
In all these cases, it’s important to re-establish healthy communication and to reach an agreement as soon as possible.
The Malt team is here to help you resolve these disputes.
Restore or ensure communication between the different parties
Suggest solutions based on our experience
Clarify contractual rules and available options
The provision of service contract (quote, invoice) is signed between the freelancer and the client. This means that the resolution of the dispute is the responsibility of the client and the freelancer.
Malt is a third party to this service contract: our teams are therefore not in a position to make a decision one way or the other, to assess the technical quality of a service, to judge the merits of a dispute, nor to compel a freelancer to perform a service or require a client to pay an invoice.
Prepare to engage in a constructive discussion to find a favorable outcome to your dispute, listen to the position of the other party (what would you do, what would you expect if you were in their shoes?) and be proactive.
It is obviously in our interest to find a favorable outcome to any disputes, and we manage to reach an agreement in 80% of the cases reported to our team (which make up less than 1% of the projects carried out on Malt).
A quick resolution is always more beneficial, before positions freeze for too long. If the dispute persists and no agreement is reached after 45 days, we will apply the necessary actions in accordance with our T&Cs. The two parties are then free to go to court to settle the dispute, if they wish.
Refund in the event of a dispute
AXA does not cover refunds for projects in the event of a dispute, and cannot guarantee the freelancer will be paid in the event of a dispute. The AXA insurance policy that covers projects on Malt is a professional civil liability policy (more information here).
A professional civil liability policy covers damages that may result from an accident or error (e.g., an incident that causes a delay in delivery resulting in the loss of a contract, or a bug that causes a loss of turnover on an e-commerce site). It does not guarantee the performance of a service or offer protection in the event of insufficient performance or quality.