Customers of the insolvent energy supplier BEV are still entitled to the promised new customer bonus. This was decided by the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) (IX ZR 267/20). In this case, the insolvency administrator no longer wanted to grant the new customer bonus in full after the company filed for insolvency in 2019. The Federation of German Consumer Organizations (vzbv) took action against this with a model declaratory action, which was joined by over 5,000 people.
Ronny Jahn, head of the model declaratory actions team at vzbv, emphasized the importance of contractual reliability. Consumers must be able to rely on promises made. "There must be no subsequent unilateral adjustments, not even after insolvency," said the head of the model declaratory actions team.
There was no condition in the BEV contracts that the new customer bonus should only be paid after the end of the minimum contract term. This has already been determined by the Munich Higher Regional Court and confirmed by the BGH. Final calculations by the insolvency administrator must take the bonus into account regardless of the term. For customers, this can mean that additional claims are reduced or completely eliminated. The ruling is legally binding.
Sources: vzbv.de/bundesgerichtshof.de
© Fotolia
