• Have you taken out a loan with Aasa and repaid it early? Make a complaint and request a refund of a proportional part of the preparation fee.
• UOKiK stated in its decision that it was illegal for the company to retain this money and ordered it to immediately cease this practice.
• We expect that after the CJEU’s judgement financial institutions granting consumer credits will respect the law.

After the widely-covered judgement of the Court of Justice of the EU on early repayment of consumer credits, the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) issued its first decision in such a case. This applies to Aasa Polska with its registered office in Warsaw. The company grants consumer credits. If they are repaid before the due date, Aasa does not reimburse a proportional share of the preparation fee when settling accounts with its customers. Whereas in such a situation the law requires creditors to reduce all costs of the loan in proportion to the duration of the shortened credit agreement. If they have already charged such fees, they should reimburse them to consumers. It does not matter when such charges were applied or whether they were linked to the duration of the credit agreement. This interpretation has recently been confirmed by the CJEU. UOKiK and the Financial Ombudsman had already officially presented such a position on 16 May 2016.  

UOKiK has ordered Aasa to immediately stop charging customers who have repaid their loan early with the full amount of the preparation fee. The company has to do it even if it submits an appeal to court. In addition, Aasa is to notify all  borrowers who have repaid a loan early after 16 May 2016 about UOKiK’s decision. It must inform them in writing or electronically that they can make a complaint. If they do so, the company will refund the overpaid part of the preparation fee within 30 days, as ordered by the Office.

- On our part, there is no consent for banks and other institutions granting consumer credits to violate the law. After the judgement of the CJEU, there are no longer any doubt as to how to interpret the provisions. We expect that in the event of early repayment, businesses will reduce all loan costs proportionally and reimburse them to borrowers. We are counting on them to do so also in relation to past agreements. We will monitor the market and impose penalties for violation of consumer rights – says Marek Niechciał, President of UOKiK.

More than 20 companies from the financial sector, which do not make settlements with customers in case of early loan repayment, have already received charges from the Office. In addition, 8 investigations are ongoing and are at an early stage, while further cases will be initiated on an ongoing basis.  

Support for consumers:

Tel. 801 440 220 or 22 290 89 16 - Consumer Helpline
E-mail: porady@dlakonsumentow.pl
Consumer Ombudsmen - in your city or district
Regional Consumer Centres: 22 299 60 90 - Dlakonsumenta.pl
Financial Ombudsman - after rejection of a complaint by a financial institution

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: biuroprasowe@uokik.gov.pl
Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL