The consumer's statutory cancellation rights

To protect consumers from contractual obligations to which they may have agreed without thoroughly considering all the circumstances, the law gives them the right to cancel certain types of contract in certain situations within a period of fourteen days (Section 355 of the German Civil Code).

In the customer-bank relationship cancellation rights apply in the following situations:

• Doorstep transactions (Section 312 German Civil Code)
  These are cases in which a contract has been entered into "on the doorstep" or the consumer has been induced to do so in a doorstep situation. The aim is to protect consumers against any risks arising from a hasty decision to enter into a contract. This cancellation right is based on EU legislation, the Doorstep Selling Directive.
• Consumer loan contracts (Section 495 German Civil Code)
  The consumer is given a cooling-off period so that he can reconsider the loan contract. The current EU Consumer Credit Directive does not specifically require a cancellation right for the consumer. German legislators exercised an option granted in the directive allowing it to introduce consumer protection rules going beyond its provisions.
• Financial services sold at a distance (Section 312d German Civil code)
  This cancellation right applies to contracts for financial services concluded exclusively by means of telecommunications (e.g. e-mail or telephone). This is intended to compensate for the information deficit caused by the fact that the contracting parties are not physically present at the same time and cover the consumer's need for special protection. The provision is based on the EU Directive on the distance marketing of consumer financial services.