Munich, June 6, 2024. Many customers are dissatisfied with their basic pension insurance contracts (so-called Rürup pensions). In principle, there are hardly any options for prematurely terminating these contracts. However, the Federal Court of Justice has now opened a door to this possibility with its rulings of January 24, 2024 (Case No. IV ZR 306/22) and October 11, 2023 (Case No. IV ZR 41/22), by allowing the revocation of these insurance contracts.
The subject of one case was the cancellation policy of a Generali Rürup pension, and the subject of the other case was the cancellation policy of an Allianz Rürup pension. The Federal Court of Justice found errors in both cancellation policies, which could still allow the policyholder to terminate their Rürup contract today by exercising their right of cancellation.
This legal ruling primarily affects Rürup pension contracts from the years 2008 to 2010 – and not only those from the insurance companies mentioned above. Even after 2010, isolated errors can still be found in cancellation policies that policyholders can use to their advantage.
The consequence of a successful cancellation is the receipt of the surrender value (including any surplus shares). No offsetting of acquisition and distribution costs is required. ” Successful cancellation represents the most effective way to preserve the contract balance of a Rürup contract ,” says attorney Alexander Kainz of the law firm CLLB Lawyers, ” because these contracts are inherently non-cancellable.”
In each individual case, in addition to the cancellation policy, it must also be examined whether the assertion of claims arising from a cancellation has been forfeited. However, according to the case law of the Federal Court of Justice, forfeiture is the exception.
Affected policyholders who wish to terminate their Rürup contract are welcome to contact the law firm CLLB Lawyers, with offices in Munich and Berlin, for a free initial consultation.
