Time's Up? BGH Sets the Record Straight on Expiration of Unlawful Bank Charges
Bank Charges Under Scrutiny: German Federal Court Provides Guidance on Expiration of Unlawful Bank Fee Cases - Bank judgment removal of charge restrictions in questionable banking fees cases
Let's talk about bank fees, shall we? You might have heard that since 2021, banks can't hike up account fees without your explicit consent. But hey, what about those fees they charged you before? When does your claim to get them back expire? The Federal Court of Justice (BGH), that's who! They've finally put an end to the uncertainty.
So, ever wondered when your claims should be filed? Well, here's the thing - they're subject to the regular expiration period of three years. This period starts at the end of the year in which the claim arose and you became aware of the underlying circumstances. And no, it doesn't matter when you became aware that the fee increase was invalid.
Invalid Clauses
There was a big case before the highest German civil court, involving the Federal Association of Consumer Centers and the Berlin Sparkasse. The Sparkasse's terms and conditions used to have a so-called consent fiction clause. This meant that if a customer didn't actively object to a fee increase within a certain period, their consent was deemed given. Common at many banks and savings banks, this clause was ruled invalid by the BGH in 2021.
Money Back but for How Long?
As a result, many bank customers were able to reclaim excessive fees. In November of last year, the BGH further strengthened their position by ruling that even if a customer paid the invalidly charged fees without objection for more than three years, the bank couldn't keep the money. The "three-year solution" didn't apply here.
But the burning question remained - when do the repayment claims expire? The consumer center wanted to enforce in court that the period only begins when consumers learn of the invalidity of the clause - at the earliest with the BGH ruling in 2021.
BGH Sets the Date
The BGH saw it differently. They argued that it isn't necessary for the start of the expiration period that consumers are aware of the invalidity of the consent fiction clause. The legal situation was already clear before the landmark ruling in 2021. Consumers could have filed a lawsuit even before that. The fact that the use of invalid clauses was widespread before the ruling does not speak against this.
According to the BGH, the key to expiration is when the claims arose. This isn't when the excessive charges are debited from your account, but rather when you approve the balance statements. This approval is given upon the expiration of a six-week period within which customers can still object to the balance statement.
A Win for Banks?
Despite the consumer-friendly BGH ruling in 2021, banks and savings banks might just get away with keeping a significant portion of the improperly charged fees. That's because only a small number of customers have made refund claims in recent years, according to a representative survey by the comparison portal Verivox. Only 11 percent of all customers have demanded money back from their bank.
"From previous studies, we know that the current account alone became more expensive for at least 40 percent of all customers in the three years before the ruling," says Verivox CEO Oliver Maier. At least these customers could have claimed refunds. The company is not aware of any bank that obtained the necessary customer consent for fee collection before the Karlsruhe ruling.
- Federal Court of Justice
- Statute of limitations
- Bank charge
- Bank fee
- Karlsruhe
- Federal Association of Consumer Centres
- Consumer centre
- Berlin Savings Bank
[1] Search results reveal that the BGH ruled in April 2021 that consent clauses in bank terms and conditions, which allowed banks to charge fees without explicit customer consent, were inadmissible. This ruling entitled many consumers to a refund of unlawfully charged fees. However, specific details about the expiration period for such claims are not provided in the search results. Consulting legal documents or seeking advice from a legal professional would be necessary for precise information.
- Despite the 2021 ruling by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) that declared consent clauses in bank terms and conditions inadmissible, the exact expiration period for claims to reclaim unlawfully charged bank fees still remains unclear, requiring consultation with legal documents or legal professionals.
- In their recent ruling, the BGH stated that the expiration period for claims to reclaim unlawfully charged bank fees is subject to the regular statute of limitations, starting at the end of the year in which the claim arose and the consumer became aware of the underlying circumstances, regardless of when they became aware of the fee increase's invalidity.
