• Did you take out a payday loan and paid it back ahead of time? Or maybe you took out a consumer credit for the purchase of household appliances and settled it before the end of the contract? Verify whether you have received a linearly proportional refund of respective fees and commissions.
• The President of UOKiK, Tomasz Chróstny, has issued a supplementary explanation concerning the judgement of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJUE) on the early repayment of a consumer loan or credit, interpreting the provisions of Article 49 of the Consumer Credit Act.
• Dear consumer, lodge a complaint and demand reimbursement of fees and commissions charged if you have repaid the consumer loan or credit ahead of time.

- In the event of an early repayment of a consumer loan or credit, the consumer should demand from banks and loan institutions a proportional reimbursement of fees and commissions that they had paid. I expect that financial institutions will proportionally, on a linear basis, settle all fees paid by the client who has repaid earlier the consumer loan or credit – says Tomasz Chróstny, President of UOKiK. In September 2019, UOKiK position stated in May 2016 has been confirmed by the ruling of the Court of Justice of the EU in the case C-383/18 (Lexitor).

In the case C-383/18 (Lexitor), the Court of Justice of the EU clarified what amount of fees should be reimbursed in the event of early repayment of a consumer loan or credit. As interpreted by the Court, all possible fees incurred by the consumer for concluding a consumer loan or credit contract are refundable.

If a financing institution has not settled the fees and commissions to which a consumer was subjected, the consumer who has repaid a consumer loan or credit should immediately submit a complaint. Helpful in writing a complaint will be the latest position of the President of UOKiK, in which he addresses doubts as to the earlier repayment of a consumer loan or credit. The position of the President of UOKiK can be downloaded from the finanse.uokik.gov.pl website.

– In the case when the consumer has repaid the obligation before the end of the contract, both loan companies and banks should, in proportion to the duration of the concluded contract, settle and reimburse the consumer with a part of all fees and commissions charged when granting financing. This applies to both commission and brokerage costs as well as other fees charged by the financing entity. We should remember that in the case of consumer loans and credits, fees and commissions constitute a significant part of the financing costs, therefore we strongly demand reimbursement of a linearly proportional part of these costs in the event of earlier repayment of the acquired financing – adds Tomasz Chróstny.

According to the President of UOKiK, loan institutions and banks should use the linear method when calculating the reimbursement - this is the method that is easily understood by consumers, the simplest, transparent and fair. It is also easy to use by entrepreneurs: The financial institution divides all costs by the number of calendar days during which the contract was to apply. The result is multiplied by the number of days by which the loan period was shortened - and this is the sum that should be returned to the consumer. The regulations apply to consumer loans and credits concluded after the entry into force of the Consumer Credit Act, i.e. after December 18, 2011. Note the limitation periods for lodging a claim.

The Authority is receiving signals that some financial institutions are already settling accounts with their clients in a correct way. The insurance industry also uses the linear method to determine the amount of reimbursement when the customer terminates the contract during the insurance period.

Consumer guide:

• Dear consumer, if you have repaid a consumer loan or credit before the deadline specified in the contract, check whether the entrepreneur has settled the fees that you had paid.
• Information on the costs of your loan can be found in the fees and commissions table.
• The reimbursement should be proportionally linear and relate to the commissions and all fees, including the cost of preparing the contract or insurance.
• If the entrepreneur has not settled with you the due payments, lodge a complaint. You can refer to the position of the President of UOKiK and to the interpretation of the rules governing the application of Article 49 of the Consumer Credit Act, issued in the judgement of the Court of Justice of the EU in the case C-383/18 (Lexitor).
• If your complaint is rejected, you can get free help from municipal or administrative district consumer ombudsmen - you can also assert your rights in court.

Consumer support:

Phone 801 440 220 or 22 290 89 16 – consumer helpline
e-mail: [SCODE]cG9yYWR5QGRsYWtvbnN1bWVudG93LnBs[ECODE]
Consumer ombudsmen – in your town or district
Regional Consumer Centres: 22 299 60 90 – Dlakonsumenta.pl

Additional information for the media:

UOKiK Press Office
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa, Poland
Phone +48 695 902 088, +48 22 55 60 246
E-mail: [SCODE]Yml1cm9wcmFzb3dlQHVva2lrLmdvdi5wbA==[ECODE]
Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL