• As a result of the actions taken by the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, Bank Pocztowy and Plus Bank joined the group of institutions that correctly settle accounts with consumers who repay their loans early.
• In the above case, the lender has to make a refund of a proportional part - calculated on a straight-line basis - of all charged fees, including but not limited to commission.
• Moreover, the bank is obliged to investigate complaints with regards to all consumer credit agreements concluded after 18 December 2011 and repaid early.

The President of UOKiK Tomasz Chróstny takes consistent steps to ensure compliance with Art. 49 of the Consumer Credit Act, according to which in the case of early repayment of a loan, credit institutions should settle with consumers all charged fees and commission on a straight-line basis. The President has recently issued a binding decision with regards to the above concerning Bank Pocztowy, and Plus Bank has started following the guidelines of the President of UOKiK already during the process of investigation.

- It is clearly stated in the provisions and, additionally, in September 2019, it was confirmed by the Court of Justice of the EU that a consumer who repays a loan before the deadline for the repayment determined in the contract, the consumer is entitled to receive a proportional part of all charged fees, including commission. Such a refund should be calculated with the use of the straight-line method, which is fair, transparent and clear to the consumer - says Tomasz Chróstny, the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection.

According to the latest decision of the President of UOKiK, Bank Pocztowy is obliged to inform consumers who have entered into loan agreements after the entry into force of the Consumer Credit Act, that is, after 18 December 2011, that in the case of repayment of the loan before the specified deadline they may apply for a proportional reimbursement of charged fees, calculated on a straight-line basis. The bank is to post such a statement on its website. Additionally, Bank Pocztowy is to send e-mail notifications to individuals who, after 16 May 2016, (the date of the first statement of the President of UOKiK regarding Art. 49 of the Consumer Credit Act ) repaid their loans earlier than stated in their contracts. Moreover, the President of UOKiK urged the entity to refund an appropriate part of charged commission, calculated with the use of the straight-line method, within 3 months from receiving the request from the consumer. The above does not apply to persons who have already received the appropriate part of the commission under the decision of the President of UOKiK in December 2019. Furthermore, Bank Pocztowy undertook to submit declarations on the recognition of legitimate claims of consumers for the reimbursement of loan costs in the cases that are already investigated in courts. More details in the statement of the President of UOKiK  in September 2021.

Plus Bank also complied with the guidelines of the President of UOKiK. The above was done at the stage of investigation and there was no need to bring charges against Plus Bank and issue a decision. As of 1 January 2021, the bank automatically settles, on a straight-line basis, the loan costs of all consumer loans that are repaid before the deadline specified in the contracts. In the case of consumer loans that were repaid prior to the specified date, the refund of the proportional part of the commission is made at the request of consumers. The requests from consumers may also relate to settlement adjustments in the case they were calculated with the use of a method other than the straight-line method. More information can be found on the bank's website.

This year, the President of UOKiK has also issued a decision with regards to Bank Handlowy. However, the Office has received signals from consumers according to which the bank may not be fully fulfilling the imposed obligations. The complaints concern a situation of early repayment of loans as a result of concluding another consumer credit agreement of the same type with Bank Handlowy. The Office is currently verifying the information provided by consumers and has contacted the bank to clarify the situation.

As a result of the actions taken by the President of UOKiK, 17 banks are properly settling accounts with consumers who have repaid a consumer loan early. Also, 12 cooperative banks that have been audited follow the guidelines of the Office.

Have you repaid a loan before the deadline? Find out what are your rights

• Any person who drew a consumer loan can repay it early. In that case, the lender must reduce all costs of such a loan, e.g. fees, commission, and must refund the money to the consumer. The reimbursement should cover the costs relating to the period from the date of actual repayment of the loan to the date of final repayment as specified in the contract. The reimbursement must not depend on the date the lender actually incurred those costs.
• The amount to be refunded should be calculated with the use of the straight-line method.The financial institution is to divide all non-interest costs by the number of calendar days the contract was to be in effect. Then, the result is multiplied by the number of days by which the loan term was shortened. The final number is the amount that should be returned to the consumer.
• UOKiK has prepared a loan calculator to help calculate the approximate amount to be refunded according to the straight-line method.
• Consumers may apply for a refund of the unsettled portion of the fees for a consumer loan or a loan repaid before the due date if the contract was concluded after the Consumer Credit Act has entered into force, i.e., after 18 December 2011. The statute of limitations amounts to ten years for repayments made before 9 July 2018, and six years for repayments made after that date.
• To have the money refunded, please file a complaint. You can fill in the ready-to-use form and send it to the financial institution that granted you the loan or consumer credit.

We also encourage you to read the statement of the President of UOKiK of 2 March 2020 concerning the interpretation of Art. 49 of the Consumer Credit Act, available at finanse.uokik.gov.pl

Consumer assistance:

Phone: 801 440 220 or 22 290 89 16 – Consumer Helpline
E-mail: [SCODE]cG9yYWR5QGRsYWtvbnN1bWVudG93LnBs[ECODE]
 Consumer Ombudsmen – in your town or district

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