Swiss franc loans

In order to successfully sue a bank to have a loan agreement declared void and to recover all instalments, interest and charges paid in respect of it, it is necessary to have consumer status. This is the fundamental condition ensuring that you can benefit from legal protection in court. However, depending on the specific circumstances, this is not the only condition.

During our initial analysis of the loan agreement, we inform clients of all the possibilities and potential difficulties that may arise during legal proceedings. Therefore, if you have any doubts, we encourage you to raise them during a telephone conversation, which will mark the start of potential cooperation with our law firm with a view to recovering the money paid to the bank under an invalid loan agreement.

Each bank formulated unlawful contractual terms in a slightly different way. However, to illustrate potentially problematic terms, we provide examples of those deemed unlawful by Polish courts: “In the case of a Loan granted in a foreign currency (CHF/EUR/USD, the Loan amount will be disbursed in zlotys at the buying rate for the relevant currency, in accordance with the ‘Exchange Rate Table for Mortgage Products of Raiffeisen Bank Polska S.A.’ in force at the Bank on the date the Loan/Loan Tranche is drawn down.”

“Repayment of the loan, together with interest, shall be made in zlotys, in instalments specified in the Loan Agreement in the currency of the Loan, converted on the date the funds are credited to the Borrower’s bank account, at the selling rate for foreign currencies set out in the Table of Exchange Rates and applicable at the Bank at the time of that transaction.” Provisions in a loan agreement that link the amount of the loan disbursed and/or the instalments to be repaid to a foreign exchange rate derived from a specific bank’s exchange rate table are generally treated as prohibited contractual terms.

The above description is a broad generalisation and simplification of the issue; it does not constitute legal advice, but is intended to help borrowers determine whether the loan agreements they have entered into contain prohibited contractual terms. To verify this accurately, we encourage you to contact our law firm directly.

In accordance with Article 22^1 of the Civil Code, “a consumer is defined as a natural person who enters into a legal transaction with a trader that is not directly related to their business or professional activity”. However, this definition does not mean that any connection between property purchased with loan funds and the business activity carried out precludes the possibility of benefiting from the protection afforded to consumers. Therefore, in case of any doubts, we encourage you to raise them during a telephone conversation, which will mark the start of potential cooperation with our law firm with a view to recovering the money paid to the bank under an invalid loan agreement. In accordance with the latest case law of the CJEU, the term ‘consumer’ within the meaning of Directive 93/13 covers a person who has entered into a loan agreement for a purpose partly related to their business or professional activity, and, in the part not related to that activity, jointly with another borrower who was not acting within the scope of their business or professional activity, provided that the purpose of the business or professional activity is so limited that it is not predominant in the overall context of that contract. Therefore, if part of the loan proceeds was used for purposes related to business activities, it is necessary to analyse the specific situation before bringing legal proceedings. To carry out this analysis, we encourage you to contact our law firm directly.

Depending on the borrower’s circumstances and the strategy they choose (from those proposed by the Law Firm) it may be possible to recover all the money paid to the bank and terminate the loan agreement, or to recover only the overpayments resulting from the presence of unlawful contractual terms in the agreement and continue to perform the agreement whilst disregarding those terms.

According to publicly available statistics, borrowers with Swiss franc-denominated mortgages won around 97 per cent of the cases that were concluded last year. Despite such optimistic statistics, we cannot in any way guarantee that a case will definitely result in a successful outcome. Bearing in mind that every case is different, and therefore the course of court proceedings may vary, we always keep our clients informed on an ongoing basis about the risks associated with the borrower’s specific situation.

Yes. A contract entered into voluntarily forms the basis for the claims that the borrower, as a consumer, is entitled to make against the bank. The contract is subject to the court’s assessment as regards its provisions.

Yes. Full repayment of the loan does not prevent you from bringing a claim against the bank. It does affect the content of the claim and the claims set out therein, but for the borrower it can only have positive consequences, such as not having to decide whether to continue making repayments whilst the case is ongoing.

The fact that a bank has provided information on the risks associated with a Swiss franc loan, or even that the borrower has signed a declaration acknowledging these risks, does not preclude the possibility of taking legal action against the bank. What matters is the scope and manner in which the information was provided. Typically, this information was insufficient, and the banks sought to reassure borrowers by suggesting that the exchange rate risk was minimal. Our experience shows that all the Swiss franc borrowers we have represented to date were only superficially informed; therefore, it cannot be considered that they knowingly accepted the risk. Consequently, having received any information from the bank regarding the so-called ‘exchange rate risk’ will not prevent you from winning a case against the bank to have your Swiss franc loan agreement declared null and void.

This affects the content of the claim, but does not prevent you from taking legal action against the bank. We treat each case individually and explain in detail the implications of any changes that have occurred since the loan was taken out for the purposes of a potential court case. We therefore encourage you to contact our law firm directly.

In principle, it is possible to take legal action against a bank. However, this is one of those situations which must be considered on a case-by-case basis. We therefore encourage you to contact our law firm directly.

In its judgment of 15 June 2023, the CJEU clearly stated that the provisions of Directive 93/13 preclude courts from refusing to secure consumers’ claims by suspending the obligation to repay loan instalments. Accordingly, Polish courts should grant applications to secure a claim by suspending the obligation to make loan repayments for the duration of proceedings to declare the loan agreement void. This would thereby enable borrowers to cease making loan repayments until the court proceedings have been finally concluded.

The role of the solicitor in the proceedings is to look after the client’s interests without the client having to be involved in the court proceedings, apart from making key decisions on the case based on the position set out by the solicitor. Borrowers are primarily concerned with recovering their money; therefore, the solicitor’s task is to strive to achieve the most favourable outcome. Consequently, the borrower’s involvement in court proceedings is usually limited to attending one of the final hearings, at which the parties are heard. All other actions, depending on the borrower’s choice, are discussed with them in detail or they are simply informed of them. However, the borrower has the right to attend hearings and to keep abreast of the correspondence relating to the case; therefore, we facilitate ongoing contact with the solicitor handling the case so that the client can be kept informed of the current stage of their case.

In principle, it is possible to take legal action against a bank. However, this is one of those situations which must be considered on a case-by-case basis. We therefore encourage you to contact our law firm directly.

All you need to do is gather all the documents you received from the bank when you signed the agreement, collect a statement from the bank showing all payments made to date, and arrange an appointment at our office. We handle cases for Swiss franc borrowers from outside Kraków, which is why we also offer the option of an online meeting, subject to booking an appointment in advance and sending scans of your bank documents by email.