Complaint & Appeal: templates and forms
14 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.
Refund of an unauthorised payment or card chargeback — letter to your bank (Germany)
Your letter to your own bank in Germany when your account or card was charged without your consent — after card fraud or phishing, say. You dispute the transactions and demand the refund, which the bank must make by the end of the next business day at the latest (§ 675u of the German Civil Code, BGB). Report without delay and at most 13 months after the debit (§ 676b BGB). If you paid by card yourself but received nothing, the letter instead asks for a chargeback under the card scheme's rules. With the blocking date and the police report. In German.
Application to a bank ombudsman or conciliation body (Germany)
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.
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.
Complaint to a bank or savings bank (Germany)
A written complaint to your German bank or savings bank (Sparkasse) — about a faulty transfer, a card payment, charges, a blocked account, a loan or an investment. It sets out what happened and the remedy you want, and sets the time to answer: 15 business days for payment services, 35 in exceptional cases (§ 62 of the German Payment Services Supervision Act, ZAG). Complaining to the bank first is also the precondition for the banks' conciliation schemes — the private banks' Ombudsman, the Sparkassen body, the cooperative banks' BVR or the Bundesbank's conciliation body (§ 14 VSBG). In German.
Complaint about medical treatment (Germany)
One letter for four routes after treatment in Germany you are unhappy with or suspect was faulty: a complaint to the practice or hospital itself, a professional-conduct complaint to the regional medical chamber (Landesärztekammer), an application to the chamber's expert or mediation board (Gutachterkommission or Schlichtungsstelle), and a request to the health insurer for support under § 66 of Book V of the Social Code (SGB V). With the facts, the route you choose and, if you wish, a release from medical confidentiality. In German, for every Land.
Objection to a decision of the health or care insurer (Germany)
The objection (Widerspruch) to a decision of your German statutory health or long-term care insurer (Krankenkasse or Pflegekasse) — for instance refusing treatment, a medical aid or rehabilitation, or setting too low a care level. With the decision's date, the reference, your reasons and a request to see the file, so you can add to the reasons once you have read the expert opinion. To print, sign and post: under § 84 of the Social Courts Act (SGG) a plain e-mail is not a valid objection. Deadline: one month. In German.
Objection to a traffic fine notice (Germany)
A letter objecting to a German fine notice (Bußgeldbescheid) for a traffic offence, sent to the fines office that issued it: with the file reference, the date of the notice and the date it was served, against the notice in full or only against the penalty, with a request to inspect the file, and with or without reasons. Under § 67 of the German Administrative Offences Act (OWiG), the objection must reach the authority within two weeks of service, and a plain e-mail does not count. If the case goes to court, the court may also raise the fine. In German, ready to print and sign.
Employee's reply to a formal warning (Germany)
An employee's written reply to an employer's formal warning (Abmahnung) in Germany, to be added to the personnel file under § 83(2) of the German Works Constitution Act (BetrVG). It names the allegation, sets out the facts as the employee sees them, lists witnesses and asks either for the unjustified warning to be removed from the file or for the reply to be filed with it. There is no deadline and no duty to reply, but what is written can be used later. In German, to print, sign and hand over against a receipt.
Objection to a tax assessment (Germany)
Your objection (Einspruch) to a notice from the German tax office — an income tax, VAT or property tax value assessment, for example — or to a child benefit decision of the Familienkasse. The deadline is one month from notification, and since 2025 a posted notice counts as notified only on the fourth day after posting (§§ 355 and 122 of the German Fiscal Code, AO). The letter identifies the notice, says what should change, gives the grounds or announces them, and can ask for payment to be suspended, because the objection alone does not stop it. In German.
Defect notice with rent reduction (Germany)
The letter a tenant in Germany uses to report a defect in the rented flat — mould, a heating failure, water damage, broken windows — and to claim a rent reduction. Reporting is a duty: without it the reduction is lost to the extent the landlord could have fixed the defect (§ 536c of the German Civil Code, BGB). The letter describes the defect, sets a deadline for repair, bases the reduction on the gross rent, lets the tenant choose between paying in full under reservation (the safer route) and paying less at once, and announces set-off under § 556b(2) BGB. In German, to print, sign and send.
Objection to a service-charge statement with a request to inspect receipts (Germany)
The letter a tenant in Germany sends when the service-charge statement (Betriebskostenabrechnung) is wrong or cannot be followed. It raises objections to the individual items within the twelve-month period of § 556(3) of the German Civil Code (BGB), asks to inspect invoices, contracts and consumption figures — since 2025 the landlord may also provide the receipts electronically (§ 556(4) BGB) — asks for a corrected statement, and holds back only the disputed part of any back-payment. No form is prescribed. In German, to print, sign and send.