Consumer rights in Germany: withdrawal, faulty goods and cancellations
The documents are in German, and each has a page describing it in English. None of these letters needs a handwritten signature; standard terms may demand no more than text form (Textform, § 309 No. 13 of the Civil Code, BGB): an email will do. A letter takes effect when it reaches the trader (§ 130 BGB), which the sender must prove, though a withdrawal counts as in time if sent in time. An online purchase or a doorstep contract can be withdrawn from within 14 days without reasons (§§ 312g, 355 BGB), by letter, by the statutory model form the trader must supply or, since 19 June 2026, by the “Vertrag widerrufen” button online shops must offer. For faulty goods the buyer chooses repair or replacement in a notice of defect; a defect that shows within a year of delivery is presumed present at delivery (§ 477 BGB).
If repair fails or is not done within a reasonable time, the buyer may withdraw or cut the price without a further deadline (§ 475d BGB). A mobile or internet contract binds for at most 24 months at first and can then be ended at any time on one month's notice (§ 56 TKG; phone and internet notice). Gym contracts and subscriptions made since 1 March 2022 allow at most one month's notice after the first term (§ 309 No. 9 BGB); a lasting illness with a doctor's certificate is good cause, a move is not (gym or subscription notice). An announced energy price rise lets the customer leave without notice on the day it applies (special termination), and an insurance policy whose premium rises under an adjustment clause can be ended within a month of the notice (§ 40 VVG).
A conciliation body takes a dispute only once the claim was raised with the business (§ 14(1) VSBG). An energy supplier must answer a complaint within four weeks; the application to the energy conciliation body is then free, and the company must take part. Failing a competent sector body, the federal Universal Conciliation Body hears claims of €10 to €50,000 if the trader takes part (application). Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 provides €250, €400 or €600 per passenger for an arrival three hours or more late, a cancellation or denied boarding (flight claim). Package-holiday defects are reported on the spot without delay (notice of defects), or the price reduction and damages are lost as far as a remedy was possible; claims in the letter after return expire two years after the trip's agreed end.
The documents
13 forms available to fill out or download.
Air passenger compensation claim for a delayed, cancelled or overbooked flight (Germany)
A claim letter to the airline under EU Regulation (EC) No 261/2004, written for Germany: €250, €400 or €600 compensation per passenger when you reached your destination three hours or more late, your flight was cancelled at short notice, or you were denied boarding. It sets out the flight, the amount by distance, a refusal of vouchers, your out-of-pocket costs and a payment deadline, and names the German conciliation bodies that come next. For passengers on the same booking too. In German.
Package holiday claim after your return: price reduction and damages (Germany)
The claim letter to the tour organiser after a defective package holiday, under the German Civil Code (BGB). You set out the defects and how you reported them on the spot, calculate the price reduction (§ 651m BGB), claim the cost of remedies you arranged yourself and other damage — where the holiday was seriously impaired, compensation for wasted holiday time too (§ 651n BGB) — and set a payment deadline. Claims expire two years after the agreed end of the trip (§ 651j BGB); the old one-month deadline is gone. In German.
Complaint to an electricity or gas supplier (Germany)
A consumer complaint to your electricity or gas supplier in Germany — a wrong bill, excessive instalments, a meter reading not taken over, a missing bonus or a termination left unconfirmed. The letter gives customer number, meter number and supply address, describes the problem, asks for a remedy and points to the four-week statutory deadline for an answer (§ 111a of the German Energy Industry Act, EnWG). If it fails, it is the precondition for a free application to the energy conciliation body, the Schlichtungsstelle Energie (§ 111b EnWG). Not for water or district heating. In German.
Application to the energy conciliation body, Schlichtungsstelle Energie (Germany)
An application for conciliation to the Schlichtungsstelle Energie e.V. in Berlin, for when your electricity or gas supplier, network operator or meter operator in Germany rejected your complaint or did not answer within four weeks (§§ 111a and 111b of the German Energy Industry Act, EnWG). The procedure is free for consumers and the company must take part. The letter sets out the dispute, your earlier complaint, the company's answer and what you want, and states that no court is involved. The body also offers its own free online and paper form; this letter is the informal alternative by post or e-mail. In German.
Notice of defects on a package holiday, given on the spot (Germany)
The written notice of defects you hand to the tour rep or the tour organiser while still on holiday, under the German Civil Code (BGB). It lists the defects with dates, demands a remedy by a deadline and says you will otherwise arrange one yourself and claim the cost (§ 651k BGB). Without timely notice you lose the price reduction and damages to the extent a remedy was possible (§ 651o BGB). With a space for the rep to confirm receipt. The claim after you return is a separate document. In German.
Cancelling an insurance policy — home contents, liability, legal expenses and others (Germany)
A letter cancelling your home-contents, personal liability, legal expenses, buildings, accident or pet liability insurance in Germany: with ordinary notice at the end of the insurance period, within one month of a premium increase (§ 40 of the German Insurance Contract Act, VVG), after a claim, or, for contracts of more than three years, at the end of the third year (§ 11 VVG) — each time, failing that, for the earliest possible date. It revokes the direct-debit mandate and asks for confirmation of the end date. Motor insurance has a document of its own. In German.
Withdrawal from an online purchase or distance contract (Germany)
A letter withdrawing from a purchase made online, by phone or by catalogue, or from a contract signed at your door, in Germany. Under §§ 312g and 355 of the German Civil Code (BGB) a consumer may withdraw within 14 days without giving reasons. The letter carries everything the statutory model withdrawal form asks for — order date, date the goods arrived, order number, the goods, your name and address — in its own words, and asks for the refund within 14 days and a confirmation of receipt. In German, ready to send by e-mail or post.
Notice of defect and demand for repair or replacement with a deadline (Germany)
A complaint to the seller about faulty goods bought in Germany: you report the defect, choose repair or replacement (§§ 437 and 439 of the German Civil Code, BGB) and set a deadline. It follows the sales law in force since 2022 — a defect that appears within a year of delivery is presumed to have been there from the start (§ 477 BGB), the seller must act within a reasonable time of being told (§ 475(5) BGB) and pays the costs — and, for purchases from 31 July 2026, the extra twelve months of limitation after a repair (§ 475e(5) BGB). In German.
Withdrawal from a sale or price reduction after a failed repair (Germany)
The second step of a complaint about faulty goods in Germany. If the seller did not repair or replace the goods in time after being told of the defect, the defect returned after a repair, or the seller refused, you declare withdrawal from the sale or a reduction of the price (§§ 437 and 441 of the German Civil Code, BGB) — when buying from a trader, without a further deadline (§ 475d BGB). With purchase date, defect, ground, amount to refund, deadline for payment and IBAN. In German.
Notice ending a mobile phone or internet contract (Germany)
A notice ending a mobile, DSL, cable or fibre contract in Germany under the Telecommunications Act (TKG): ordinary notice at the earliest date, one month's notice once the minimum term has ended (§ 56 TKG), notice because you are moving (§ 60 TKG), because the internet is too slow and a deadline to fix it has passed, with the regulator's measurement record (§ 57(4) TKG), or after a one-sided change to the contract. With customer and contract numbers, phone number and a request to confirm the end date. In German.
Cancelling a gym contract or subscription (Germany)
A letter cancelling a gym contract or another running subscription in Germany — a membership, a magazine, a streaming or delivery plan. You give ordinary notice for the earliest possible date, or terminate for good cause under § 314 of the German Civil Code (BGB), such as a lasting illness with a doctor's certificate; you revoke the SEPA direct-debit mandate from the end date and ask for confirmation of it in writing. For contracts since 1 March 2022, at most one month's notice applies after the first term (§ 309 No. 9 BGB). In German.
Conciliation application to the federal Universal Conciliation Body, with a consumer-centre complaint (Germany)
The Universalschlichtungsstelle des Bundes in Kehl, Germany's catch-all consumer conciliation body, offers its own free online form. This document is your written application for it: the facts, your claim and its value, your earlier attempt with the trader and the declarations needed, to upload, email or post. The procedure is free for consumers, covers claims from €10 to €50,000 where no sector body is competent, and needs the trader to take part. With a short complaint to the consumer centre (Verbraucherzentrale) of your German state. In German.
Special termination of an electricity or gas contract after a price rise (Germany)
Notice ending your electricity or gas contract in Germany after an announced price increase, without a notice period, on the day the new price is due to apply. Outside basic supply this rests on § 41(5) of the German Energy Industry Act (EnWG), in basic supply (Grundversorgung) on § 5(3) of the StromGVV or GasGVV; basic supply can also be ended at any time on two weeks' notice. With customer and meter numbers, supply address, date of the price notice, a fallback notice for the next possible date and a request to confirm the end date in text form. In German.