Authors: Julienne Bencini at Ganado Advcotes | Published on January 7, 2020
On the 19th of December 2019 (C290-19), the European Court of Justice (ECJ or the Court) gave its interpretation by virtue of a preliminary ruling on the interpretation of Article 10 of Directive 2008/48/EC (on credit agreements for consumers) (the ‘Directive’).
This request had been made in proceedings between RN, a consumer, and Home Credit Slovakia a.s. (‘Home Credit’) with regards to a consumer credit agreement concluded by the consumer with that credit provider, in which the annual percentage rate of charge (‘APRC’) is not set at a single rate. APRC refers to the cost of a loan to the consumer, expressed in terms of the total value of the loan.
The dispute in the main proceedings and the question referred for a preliminary ruling was whether Article 10(2)(g) of the Directive is to be interpreted as allowing for the APRC to be indicated in an agreement, not as a specific percentage but as a range between two figures (from-to).
Article 10(2)(g) of the Directive provides that:
“The credit agreement shall specify in a clear and concise manner … the annual percentage rate of charge and the total amount payable by the consumer, calculated at the time the credit agreement is concluded; all the assumptions used in order to calculate that rate shall be mentioned.”
Briefly, the facts are as follows: RN and Home Credit concluded a consumer credit agreement which stated the monthly repayments, the interest rate and the APRC (between 21.5% and 22.4%). The contract also specified that the APRC depended on the date on which loan was granted to RN and that the APRC would be communicated to him after that date.
On the 19th of December 2019 (C290-19), the European Court of Justice (ECJ or the Court) gave its interpretation by virtue of a preliminary ruling on the interpretation of Article 10 of Directive 2008/48/EC (on credit agreements for consumers) (the ‘Directive’).
This request had been made in proceedings between RN, a consumer, and Home Credit Slovakia a.s. (‘Home Credit’) with regards to a consumer credit agreement concluded by the consumer with that credit provider, in which the annual percentage rate of charge (‘APRC’) is not set at a single rate. APRC refers to the cost of a loan to the consumer, expressed in terms of the total value of the loan.
The dispute in the main proceedings and the question referred for a preliminary ruling was whether Article 10(2)(g) of the Directive is to be interpreted as allowing for the APRC to be indicated in an agreement, not as a specific percentage but as a range between two figures (from-to).
Article 10(2)(g) of the Directive provides that:
“The credit agreement shall specify in a clear and concise manner … the annual percentage rate of charge and the total amount payable by the consumer, calculated at the time the credit agreement is concluded; all the assumptions used in order to calculate that rate shall be mentioned.”
Briefly, the facts are as follows: RN and Home Credit concluded a consumer credit agreement which stated the monthly repayments, the interest rate and the APRC (between 21.5% and 22.4%). The contract also specified that the APRC depended on the date on which loan was granted to RN and that the APRC would be communicated to him after that date.
“The credit agreement shall specify in a clear and concise manner … the annual percentage rate of charge and the total amount payable by the consumer, calculated at the time the credit agreement is concluded; all the assumptions used in order to calculate that rate shall be mentioned.”
Briefly, the facts are as follows: RN and Home Credit concluded a consumer credit agreement which stated the monthly repayments, the interest rate and the APRC (between 21.5% and 22.4%). The contract also specified that the APRC depended on the date on which loan was granted to RN and that the APRC would be communicated to him after that date.
