Private individuals and companies that provide services, try by all possible means to maximize their profits. Quite often they do it illegally. One of the striking examples of such violations is the imposed service.
What it is?
If a person is told that the provision of one of the services without an addition is impossible, but in fact is not mandatory, he must understand that he is being imposed a service. And this is considered a direct violation of human rights and is prohibited by the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights. The imposition of services is the reason for claiming reimbursement and holding the seller accountable.
You can cite many examples of the imposed service: health and life insurance while receiving a regular or car loan at the bank, connection of paid options by mobile operators, additional options during the purchase of OSAGO.
This article will address four key issues:
- Getting rid of services imposed upon obtaining a car loan.
- Refusal of insurance at the bank at the time of obtaining a loan.
- Refusal of insurance during the purchase of the insurance policy. The imposed service most often takes place in this case.
- Refunds for services of mobile operators that the client did not connect.
And most importantly, specific legislative articles will be considered, on which it is necessary to rely on the refusal of the services that they try to impose, and on which to demand a refund for the same services.
What articles of laws to rely on to prove their case?
The most basic law that lawyers use to rid their clients of the need to pay for imposed services is the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights. It contains the necessary basis for the rejection of services that were imposed:
- Article 10, which states that the contractor must timely provide the consumer with reliable and necessary information about the services, work and goods, price and conditions for the purchase of goods. It is important to keep in mind that the terms of the acquisition by the seller must be communicated before the purchase, because after that it is completely untimely.
- Article 13 speaks of liability for violation of consumer rights and that losses incurred by a consumer should be fully compensated beyond the penalty established by the contract or law.
- Article 16 states that the terms of the contract, which infringe the rights of consumers, are invalid, and also establishes rules that the purchase of one product or service cannot oblige to purchase another product or service. Such a “load” was completed together with the Soviet Union.
- In addition to all of the above, it is separately indicated that without the consent of the buyer, the seller has no right to perform additional services and work for a fee. It is worth paying attention to the fact that if the seller performed work for a fee without obtaining the consent of the buyer, and he paid for them, then the buyer may demand the return of the amount paid from the seller. You can even say more - the buyer may demand compensation for losses if the seller's sale of a service or product depends directly on the purchase of another service or product. These rules will be very useful to remember for every consumer. So often impose additional services.
We give examples of services that are often imposed.
If the client suspects that they are going to impose any service at the bank when he will receive a loan or execute CTP, he should bring a voice recorder with him. The record will prove that the client is right, and this will not be paranoia, but only reasonable forethought.
First example
Let's say a client decided to get a loan from a bank to buy a car. However, any insurance may be included in the contract: life insurance, compulsory motor liability insurance or hull insurance. Their total cost is quite noticeable hit in the pocket. Bank employees often notify customers that insurance is mandatory and serves as a guarantee for the bank that the loan will be repaid. The client often refuses additional services. But managers at the bank are interested in obtaining insurance because they receive a percentage of its sale. They persuade the borrower to insure themselves, motivating this with the fact that it will help the client to feel more confident.
That is, a service is imposed on a person. What to do in such cases?
Customer Actions
In this particular case, Part 2 of Art. 16 of the Law "On Protection of Consumer Rights", which prohibits declining during the acquisition of services and goods the need to pay for something else. At the same time, the client has the right to demand amendment of the contract and the exclusion of voluntary insurance clauses from it, referring to the law “On Protection of Consumer Rights”. At the same time, it is advisable that the consumer has an included recorder with him. This recording of a conversation with a bank employee will serve as an excellent proof of the imposed service in court.
If, nevertheless, the client has signed the contract, he will need to turn to a lawyer for qualified assistance and be ready to go to court. A written claim to the bank does not give results in 99% of cases. The bank sends a reply to the client stating that the client himself signed the contract, the insurance was voluntary, and he could refuse them, but if he already agreed, he should pay.
In order to terminate insurance contracts, the client will have to go to court, having preliminarily prepared a statement of claim. Since we are talking about a whole complex of legal relations (an insurance contract is one thing, and a car loan is another), the lawsuit will be very complex and voluminous. It will be better for the client if a professional is engaged in its preparation.
It should be noted that in the case of credit interest an interesting situation looms. In judicial practice, it is most often recognized as legal that the percentage depends on insurance, that is, if it is formalized, the interest on the loan will be less, and if not, then more. However, the difference should not go beyond reasonable limits. For example, if with insurance the interest on the loan is 20% per annum, and without it already 45%, then the court is unlikely to recognize this as legal. Everything will be assessed by the court, and therefore, to defend the client’s position in a favorable light for him, a professional lawyer is required.
Another example of an imposed insurance service.
Second example
When applying for a loan, the client is forced to insure the loss of working capacity and life, motivating this by the fact that this condition is necessary in order to get a loan. In addition to insurance, bank employees often impose additional information support. As a result, the borrower receives less money than he expects.
What to do to the client?
In this case, it is an imposed service. The Law "On Protection of Consumer Rights" is violated by Part 2 of Art. 16. Here it is necessary to remind the bank employee of the unlawful necessity to purchase something else additionally during the acquisition of services and goods, and that the seller is obliged to fully compensate for the losses incurred by the consumer. After that, he may require that a loan be issued without an insurance contract.
In the event of a bank employee’s refusal, the client can turn to a professional lawyer who will help draw up a pre-trial claim with which, most likely, the bank will not want to mess around, and will issue a loan without insurance.
If the client has already signed an agreement on the terms of the bank, he should especially turn to a lawyer. Most likely, he will have to sue and demand to terminate the insurance contract in court. Then you definitely can’t do without a professional, since the matter is legally difficult.
The third example. Insurance
Car owners also often suffer when making OSAGO insurance. The imposed service takes place here.
At an insurance company, employees report that applying for a car without health and life insurance is not possible. The arguments may be different: that this is a complex of services, there are no other forms and that there are such rules.
Next steps
Article 16 of the Law “On the Protection of Consumer Rights” is also violated, which should be reminded to insurance employees by threatening to send a complaint to Rospotrebnadzor, the Central Bank and the Prosecutor's Office. It is advisable to take a voice recorder with you to use the recording as evidence.
In part 4 of Article 445 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, it is said that in the event of an insurance company evading the conclusion of an OSAGO agreement, a lawsuit should be filed with the court and the company should be forced to conclude an insurance agreement. And this should also be reported to the employee of the insurance company.
If the client has already signed the contract on the terms imposed by the company, you need to seek legal assistance and be prepared to file a lawsuit with the court. We understand further what to do if a service is imposed.
Fourth example. mobile connection
Messages are often sent to a person through which the mobile operator informs the subscriber about the connection of a paid service. The client is indignant, deactivates the service, and then, when verifying the account, he finds out that the paid service has been working for a long time, and funds are regularly debited from the account.
And this is an imposed service. Section 16 of the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights, states that the seller has no right to perform additional services and work for a fee without the consent of the client. It is important to know that during disputes with mobile operators, you should rely, inter alia, on the Law “On Communications”, as well as Government Decree of the Russian Federation No. 1342 “On the Procedure for the Provision of Telephone Communication Services”.
What should the client expect?
The client has the right to demand a refund of the service that was connected without his consent in full. In this case, one must rely on government decrees and the law of the Russian Federation on consumer rights or seek the help of a professional lawyer so that the specialist does everything without the participation of the consumer, and he gets his money back. It is also worth remembering that in connection with Article 55 of the Law “On Communications” it was established that the consideration of claims against the operator may last 60 days.
This is what the law on imposed services says.
Why should you seek help from a lawyer?
- Employees of companies that impose services are masters of inventing excuses: this is a set of services, these are the rules, services are included in a single contract, and so on.
- Attempts to return money flow into a long correspondence, hassle, loss of time and endless trips to the office. And when the client knows that he is right, but they don’t return the money to him, it unbalances.
- In cases when it comes to a large sum, a dishonest organization may well decide not to give money in a good way, but to go to court. In this case, you will need to fully comply with the civil process. It will be very disappointing to lose because of the little things when the client is right, and still reimburse the scammers for legal expenses.
- On the contrary, when a client emerges as the winner in a legal battle, the losing company reimburses him for the costs of paying a lawyer.
findings
It follows that the consumer has all the reasons for seeking professional help for the sake of saving nerves, time and at no cost. When it comes to an insignificant amount, the client is tempted to let things go by themselves, but this decision will be an indirect support for the impudence of the company that imposed the services.
However, if the client nevertheless decided to assert his rights, he should hurry, pull in the issue of imposed services completely to nothing. The sooner the client turns to the lawyer for help, the sooner he will get back the money tricked from him by fraud.