Application to a bank ombudsman or conciliation body (Germany)
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This document is in German
The PDF you download is in German — that is the language it has to be filed in, so it is not translated. Everything on this page is here to tell you what it says.
An application for conciliation when your German bank or Sparkasse has not resolved your complaint — to the Ombudsman of the private banks, the conciliation body of the savings banks' association (DSGV) or a regional one, the BVR's complaints office for cooperative banks, or the conciliation body at the Deutsche Bundesbank. It names the bank, the contract, your complaint and its outcome, sets out the dispute and the sum claimed, and makes the usual declarations. With the private banks' Ombudsman the procedure is free for consumers, and the decision binds the bank up to €10,000. In German.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Applicant
- Applicant's address
- Dispute resolution body for the bank (ombudsman)
- Address of the dispute resolution body
- City
- Date
- Bank
- Bank's address
- IBAN or contract number
- Date of the complaint
- The bank's answer to your complaint
- Amount claimed
- What the dispute is about
- Remedy requested
- Attachments
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- Where do I find the name and address of the right conciliation body for a German bank?
- The bank must state on its website and in its terms which consumer conciliation body it takes part in (§ 36 of the German Consumer Dispute Resolution Act, VSBG), and it often names it in its answer to your complaint. Roughly by group: private banks — the private banks' Ombudsman; Sparkassen — the DSGV's conciliation body or a regional one; cooperative banks — the BVR's complaints office; otherwise, for payment services, the conciliation body at the Deutsche Bundesbank. Copy the name and address exactly from there.
- What does conciliation with a German bank cost, and is the outcome binding on the bank?
- With the private banks' Ombudsman the procedure is free for consumers, and the decision binds the bank up to a value in dispute of €10,000. The bodies for the Sparkassen, the cooperative banks and the Bundesbank have their own rules of procedure; whether there are costs and how far a decision binds is set out in those rules on the body's website. Read them before you send the application.
- What goes into a conciliation application against a German bank, and what do I enclose?
- The application names the bank, the account or contract, the date of your complaint and the bank's answer, sets out the dispute and says what you are asking for. It declares that the matter is not before a court or another conciliation body and has not been settled, and releases the bank from banking secrecy for the procedure. Enclose your complaint and the bank's answer, since there is no conciliation without a prior complaint (§ 14 VSBG), along with statements, the contract and correspondence.
- Does a conciliation application suspend the limitation period of my claim against a German bank?
- Yes. With a state or state-recognised consumer conciliation body, such as the banks' schemes, limitation is suspended once the body arranges for your application to be notified to the bank (§ 204(1) no. 4 of the German Civil Code, BGB). The suspension ends six months after the procedure ends (§ 204(2) BGB). If conciliation fails, you therefore still have time to sue; if the limitation period is about to run out, file the application in good time.
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