German Top Court Opens Door for 1.5 Million Savers to Reclaim Bauspar Fees
Published on 07/30/2026 at 20:30 | Redaktion boerse-global.de
A landmark ruling by Germany’s Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has declared annual account-keeping fees on Riester home-savings contracts illegal, potentially allowing roughly 1.5 million customers nationwide to demand refunds. The decision, handed down on 28 July 2026 (case reference XI ZR 83/25), found that such charges unfairly disadvantage savers and lack a proper legal basis.
The case originated with a lawsuit brought by the Federation of German Consumer Organisations (vzbv) against Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen (Helaba). The bank had levied an annual fee of €15 on older Riester Bausparverträge — state-subsidised savings plans used to build home equity for retirement. For contracts signed from January 2022 onward, that fee jumped to €24 per year.
In its reasoning, the BGH stated that the Act on the Certification of Old-Age Provision and Basic Pension Contracts (AltZertG) does not provide sufficient legal grounds for such annual charges. The court argued that the fees covered tasks the building society was already legally obligated to perform or that primarily served the bank’s own interests, making the cost to savers an unreasonable disadvantage.
The ruling is not limited to Helaba. The vzbv is also pursuing legal action against Bausparkasse Schwäbisch Hall, which charged €36 annually, and LBS Süd, which demanded €30 per year. Lower courts had already signalled a shift in this direction: in February and May 2026, the Higher Regional Courts of Stuttgart and Munich ruled against building societies in similar disputes, citing a 2022 BGH judgment that struck down comparable fees on conventional, non-Riester Bauspar contracts.
For affected savers, the practical implications are significant. Experts say customers can reclaim wrongly paid fees retroactively for at least three years — specifically covering the period from 2023 to 2026. A sample calculation illustrates the sums involved: with an annual fee of €24, the total refund over four years amounts to €96. Savers may also claim default interest at 6.52 percent per year.
Consumer advocates recommend that contract holders review their paperwork and submit a written refund request to their building society, referencing the current BGH case number. The ruling consolidates a growing body of case law that has steadily tightened the screws on fee structures many German savers long considered routine.
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