In a ruling handed down at the end of June 2025 in a dispute spanning several years, the Court of Appeal upheld the judgment handed down by the Tribunal de l'entreprise francophone de Bruxelles in a claim for repayment brought by a customer against his bank following the early repayment of his investment loan.
The bank refused to cap the compensation at 6 months' interest, as provided for by law since 2013, arguing that the contract at the heart of the dispute was not a loan contract but a credit opening contract.
With great lucidity, the Court of Appeal upheld the judgement challenged by the bank on all points: the customer had no freedom to draw down the loan, the purpose of the credit agreement was clear - it was to finance works - and there were automatic monthly instalments, which invalidates the argument that the loan had been opened.
This ruling, in line with a body of case law now well developed by the Cour de cassation, confirms the importance for companies of seriously reviewing their contracts and, in a case such as that of early repayment of credit, asserting their rights. At stake: thousands of euros, sometimes dozens in some cases, that the company would rather have in cash than pay for interest calculated on sums that have already been repaid.
