Conciliation application to the federal Universal Conciliation Body, with a consumer-centre complaint (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.
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.
What you fill in
The details the document asks for.
- Applicant
- Applicant's address
- Consumer conciliation body
- Conciliation body's address
- City
- Date
- Trader
- Contract number
- Trader's address
- Date of the contract
- Phone
- Description of the problem
- Requested outcome
- Amount claimed
- Complaint history
- Attachments
- Consumer centre of your German state
- Consumer centre's address
- What the complaint is about
Preview
This document is produced for you. Your answers are typed into it and the finished PDF is yours to keep.
Common questions
- Do I need this document when Germany's Universal Conciliation Body has its own form?
- Not necessarily: the Universalschlichtungsstelle des Bundes offers a free online form on its website, and also accepts applications by email, fax, post or in person. This document sets your case out in advance — the facts, the claim, its value and what has happened so far — and can be attached to the online form or sent to the Zentrum für Schlichtung e. V., Straßburger Straße 8, 77694 Kehl am Rhein.
- When is the German Universal Conciliation Body competent, and what does it cost?
- It is the catch-all body: it handles disputes from consumer contracts worth €10 to €50,000 where no sector body is competent (§ 30 of the German Consumer Dispute Resolution Act, VSBG) — energy, telecoms, flights, banks and insurance have their own. The procedure is free for you; the trader, who takes part voluntarily, pays the fee. If the trader declines, the procedure ends and the courts remain open.
- Must I complain to the trader first, and what does the German consumer centre do?
- Yes: a conciliation body refuses an application if you did not first raise the claim with the trader (§ 14(1) VSBG), so attach your complaint letter and any reply. The consumer centres (Verbraucherzentralen) collect complaints through an online form and use them to watch the market, but do not answer each one; the text of the second letter in this document can be copied into that form.
How you can sign this document
- Print it and sign by hand. The signature lines in the document are left blank on purpose — sign on them in ink.
- Sign it yourself with a qualified electronic signature. If you already hold a QES — Evrotrust, B-Trust, StampIT, ZealiD or any qualified provider on the EU Trusted List, on a card, a USB token, in a mobile app or in the cloud — our signing guide explains step by step how to sign this exact file without invalidating it. Step-by-step help, and a way to check it worked
DocMuse sells documents, not legal advice. Acceptance always depends on the recipient's rules and your local law.
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