The Financial Ombudsman’s Office announced that the Supreme Court upheld their extraordinary complaint regarding reimbursement of commission on early loan repayment.
In February 2016, an Alior Bank customer took out a consumer loan for PLN 50 thousand, for which the bank charged PLN 16.7 thousand commission. The loan was to be repaid over a period of 10 years, but the customers repaid it in 14 months. The bank, in accordance with the law, should have returned the proportional part of the commission, i.e. almost 15 thousand PLN, which it did not do and did not intend to do. As a result, the borrowers sued.
The District Court in Kielce, which was the court of first instance, agreed with the claimant’s arguments and awarded the amount indicated in the statement of claim. Alior Bank appealed. The District Court amended the judgment and dismissed the claim, arguing that Article 49.1 of the Consumer Credit Act does not justify the clients’ request and that the commission is not a cost related to the term of the loan.
The Financial Ombudsman disagreed with the opinion of the court of second instance. It found that the judgment was grossly unlawful, and because it could not be challenged by a cassation complaint, the Financial Ombudsman filed an extraordinary appeal.
The Supreme Court agreed with the arguments presented in the complaint and reversed the appealed final judgment of the District Court. The costs of the appeal proceedings were charged to the bank.
The judgment of the Court of First Instance awarding the reimbursement of the commission to the borrowers is therefore legally binding. The bank should pay the client the amount claimed in the statement of claim together with interest as specified in the ruling of the court of first instance.
The above court decision is important for all those to whom a bank or a loan company have refused to settle a loan repaid earlier in accordance with the law.
As for the final judgments, which were made after 3 April 2018, there is a possibility to file an extraordinary complaint to the FO, where the case the case has already been finally considered by the court and it has dismissed the client’s claim. If the case is still pending in court, it is possible to make an application to the Financial Ombudsman to provide a material view of the case.
