The ruling made huge waves in the industry, many consumers who benefit from it, but have so far not noticed. The Federal Court of Justice ruled at the end of April that the practice of many banks with regard to fee increases is not lawful. The Federal Association of Consumer Organizations had sued the Postbank. The judgment also affects millions of customers of other institutes. According to consumer advocates, these can claim back unlawfully levied bank charges.
1. What does the judgment mean? So far, the banks and savings banks have informed their customers at least two months in advance if they change their prices or terms and conditions. If the customers did not object, the change was deemed to have been agreed. “Many bank customers only noticed the increase in fees afterwards when they looked at their account statements,” explains lawyer Max Baumeister. After the judgment, the following applies: A customer must actively say yes to a fee increase. The result: “Pretty much all the fee increases by banks and savings banks in recent years are ineffective,” says Christoph Herrmann, legal expert at Stiftung Warentest. ?? We advise customers to claim the money back. ?? This is possible for fees that have been charged since January 1, 2018. However, there is one condition: The account model must not have been changed in the meantime. Otherwise the conditions of the new account apply.
2. How much money is it about? It can turn into three-digit amounts. The consumer advice center calculates this using an example: Assume you opened a free account in 2015. The account fee was then increased to 5 euros per month from May 2017, and then to 10 euros from February 2020. ?? In this case, you can at least reclaim the fees that were charged from January 1, 2018, ?? reports the consumer advice center. This is a total of 125 euros for the 25 months from January 1, 2018 to January 31, 2020. And for the 16 months from February 1, 2020 to May 31, 2021 another 160 euros. The bottom line is that at least 285 euros can be reclaimed.
3. How do I ask
the refund a? According to Stiftung Warentest, the banks and savings banks will not repay the money of their own accord. The customers have to take action themselves, reports legal expert Herrmann. You can request the reimbursement in writing. The Stiftung Warentest has provided a sample letter on its homepage, as have the consumer advice centers. The letter should be sent as a registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt as proof.
4. How do I know how many
Charges unlawful
have been raised?
You have to calculate the amount yourself. A fee schedule, which customers can request from their bank and to which they have been entitled since October 2018, can help, says Herrmann. ?? This means that you know what fees have been incurred since October 2018 ,? explains Herrmann. This makes it easy to calculate the costs back to the beginning of 2018. In addition, older account statements can be used to determine what the costs would be if the old fees were still applicable. The difference can be claimed from the bank.
5. To say something
the banks about it? The German banking industry as a whole, as well as the Bavarian Cooperative Association with the Volksbank and Raiffeisenbank, have so far been keeping a low profile and reporting that they are in the process of evaluating the verdict. Commerzbank does not want to comment on the specific effects until after the analysis has been completed. The bank had put announced fee increases on hold. In the long run, however, it will not stay that way: Commerzbank is also planning to implement the planned price introduction.
With information from dpa
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