Generally speaking, as a borrower, you are bound from the moment you sign a credit contract. The law nevertheless authorizes you to renounce your commitment as long as the lender’s general conditions provide for it in a clear and concise manner. Let’s take stock of this significant protection organized by the legislator for consumers.

Deadlines for a credit contract

As a consumer, you can renounce the credit contract for a period of fourteen days from the signing of your contract. The law covers “calendar days”, that is to say each day of the week, including Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays.

However, the law provides that the fourteen-day period may begin to run on the day the consumer receives the general conditions, if this date is later than the date of conclusion of the credit contract.

Exercise of the right of withdrawal

You are never required to give reasons for why you wish to use your right of withdrawal. Furthermore, the law is not very formal since you just need to notify the financial organization, by registered letter to the post office or by any other medium accepted by your co-contractor (for example, a simple ordinary letter or an email ), your intention to renounce the contract.

The deadline is deemed to have been met if the notification was sent before its expiry. It therefore does not matter whether the lender receives your letter after the fourteenth legal day since it is the date of shipment (postmark) that is decisive.

Consequences

If this is a credit contract under which property is made available to you, you must return it immediately after notification of withdrawal. It goes without saying that the right of waiver is not applicable if you have consumed, damaged or lost the good.

For any other credit contract, that is to say when you receive capital, you are required to immediately repay this capital to the lender and at the latest within 30 calendar days following notification of the waiver. In both cases, you will be required to pay the interest due for the credit withdrawal period, calculated on a daily basis at the agreed borrowing rate.

Withdrawal from the credit contract automatically results in the cancellation of accessory service contracts. For example, your outstanding balance insurance contract will also end, so the insurance premium already paid must be returned to you.

The lender will not be able to claim any other compensation from you for any reason whatsoever.

In the event of a traffic accident, it is customary for it to be the auto liability insurer of the driver responsible who compensates you for material and bodily damage. However, in certain cases, the damaged driver is unable to call the opposing insurer for guarantee. Our lawyer informs you about the role of the Belgian Common Guarantee Fund (FCGB) which then seems to be the only possible recourse.

The Belgian Common Guarantee Fund

Auto liability insurance is compulsory insurance for all vehicles traveling on public roads. However, it sometimes happens that recourse against the insurer which should legally cover the liability of the responsible driver is impossible.

For example, when the author of the accident fled without being identified or when he did not respect his legal obligation to insure his vehicle.

In order not to leave the victim without compensation, the law provides for the establishment of a Belgian Common Guarantee Fund, which compensates for the absence of an insurer in certain cases.

Conditions of intervention and compensation

The cases of intervention of the FCGB are as follows:

• • If the opposing insurer cannot pay
  • If the responsible vehicle is not identifiable
  • If the responsible vehicle is not insured
  • If it is a fortuitous event
  • If the responsible vehicle was stolen
  • If the opposing insurer has not responded to a request for compensation
  • If the foreign insurer has not appointed a claims manager in Belgium

The accident must involve a motor vehicle, which excludes damage caused by a cyclist for example.

Concerning compensation, the FCGB compensates all bodily injuries, without ceiling. The FCGB also covers all material damage with a maximum ceiling of €100,000 except in the case of hit-and-run where only bodily injury is covered.

When the accident occurs in Belgium, no nationality or residence conditions are required for the injured person.

On the other hand, when the accident takes place outside Belgian territory, the injured person must prove that they have their main residence in Belgium.

FCGB appeal

The FCGB is legally subrogated to the rights of the injured person against the person responsible for the accident up to the totality of the amounts paid.

This can therefore have serious financial consequences for the responsible driver who will have to bear all the amounts advanced by the FCGB to the injured person.

The economic crisis is hitting households hard. Consequently, financial organizations are increasingly reluctant to grant financing. Peer-to-peer lending is becoming a preferred alternative for many people.

First of all, between friends or members of the same family, these “private loans” are often made without any agreement, so much so that it becomes difficult for the lender to prove their existence. Our lawyer takes stock of the different ways to protect you in case relations with your borrower deteriorate.

An authentic deed or under private signature

The authentic deed is a writing passed before a notary which has a probative value that can hardly be called into question. The private deed is a simple writing drawn up between the lender and the borrower.

In both cases, the full identities of the parties must be indicated, as well as the place and date of the conclusion of the contract. It will be useful if the contract mentions the amount loaned, the means of transferring said amount, the repayment terms, the legal interest rate, the duration and the objective of the loan. It is always preferable that the borrower expressly declares having received the amount lent.

All parties must sign the contract by preceding their signatures with the words “Read and approved”. The contract must be drawn up in as many copies as there are parties.

For example, if you decide to lend €20,000 to your cousin who is married under a community regime. Three signatures will be required. Yours, your cousin’s and your cousin’s wife’s. It will be necessary to establish 3 original copies and each person must have their own.

An acknowledgment of debt

Another way to formalize the loan is the acknowledgment of debt. This is a unilateral written act by which the borrower acknowledges owing a sum of money to another person, the lender. The acknowledgment of debt does not necessarily have to be drawn up before a notary. It can therefore be a simple act under private signature.

In principle, the acknowledgment must be written entirely in the borrower’s handwriting and kept by the lender until full repayment of the amount borrowed.

In the event that the acknowledgment is not entirely handwritten, it is necessary for the borrower to handwrite the formula “good” or “approved” with the amount indicated in full.

The acknowledgment of debt must of course be dated, signed and mention the full identities of the parties. The parties are free to add other information such as the interest rate or repayment terms. It is not required that the acknowledgment mention the cause of the debt.

Recommendations for a loan between individuals

Finally, we can only recommend that you respect the formal rules surrounding the drafting of the aforementioned acts. Failing this, they may be reclassified by the judge or simply declared void.

You will then have all the trouble in the world to prove the existence of the loan, except on the basis of repayments already made or on the basis of any letters by which the borrower confirms the existence of a loan.

Our lawyer examines for you the advantages and disadvantages of these two financial instruments so that you can choose the one that best suits your budget. And your repayment capacity. Choose the formula that suits you best with the wise advice of our lawyer. Discover the installment loan or credit opening.

How to choose between the installment loan or credit opening?

The installment loan

For example, if you finance improvement work in your house.

• You pay in periodic installments, generally every month;
• The payment terms are fixed throughout the duration of the contract;
• You cannot take out new credits;
• The interest is known prior to the conclusion of the contract;

The credit opening

For example, a VISA card or a purchasing card in a large retail chain.

• You are free to repay whenever you want;
• Payment terms are irregular;
• You have the possibility of making new withdrawals up to the discounts made and within the limits of the amount of credit granted;
• The interest rate is calculated based on the actual use of the credit;

In conclusion

Finally, opting for one or the other type of credit will depend on the purpose of your credit. Apparently, you have more freedom of use within the framework of the credit opening. Additional fees may be higher with a credit card.

In any case, the installment loan is very secure since it is based on a very precise contractual document. Which protects consumers and you know precisely in advance how much you pay monthly as well as the total cost of credit.

With the advent of the Internet, social communication networks have experienced considerable growth. Who today has not already used online auction sites such as Ebay or Paypal. Parallel to this outbreak, social engineering has been deployed at the same pace so that scammers are legion on the web. Today we give you some recommendations to avoid falling into the traps of these modern fraudsters who are as numerous as they are well organized.

What is phishing?

Phishing or phishing is a computer technique used by fraudsters to steal personal information from Internet users (complete identity, access credentials to a website, bank card number, etc.) with the aim of perpetrating data theft. ‘identify. As its English name suggests, phishing is a kind of fishing for victims via communication networks.

What are the techniques?

One of the main characteristics of phishing is that the fraudster does not trap his victims individually but collectively. It simultaneously contacts thousands or even millions of potential victims by trying to impersonate their bank or their Internet service provider, for example. The fraudster relies on this large number to find gullible or unwary recipients.

In practice, the Internet user receives a message from his bank or another company which informs him of a security problem requiring him to go to the site concerned and which invites him to click on a link. hypertext. However, this link does not lead to the official site but to an imitation often identical to the original controlled by a malicious individual, so if the Internet user clicks on the link and enters information it will be transmitted directly to the scammer.

Our recommendations

The best advice we can give you is to never click on hyperlinks contained in an unsolicited message asking the recipient to provide sensitive or confidential data, even if it appears to come from a known sender. If in doubt, prefer to check the reality of the request by telephone with the company concerned or go to the website of this company by manually entering its address in your browser, so as not to risk clicking on a booby-trapped or leading link. to a booby-trapped web page.

In the event of proven theft:

• Immediately connect to the real website of the company whose identity has been stolen and change your password to prevent your account from being hijacked;
• File an opposition with your banking organization to block your credit card;

The guarantee is personal security par excellence. It aims to add alongside the main debtor of the credit a third person (guarantee) who undertakes, under certain conditions, to intervene on behalf of the debtor in the event of difficulties in repaying the credit. A few words of explanation.

Notion

To act as guarantor for someone means to undertake to pay for them if they do not pay their debt themselves. The guarantor is a natural or legal person (such as a financial institution) who contractually undertakes vis-à-vis a creditor to pay if the debtor defaults on the due date.

Any person can act as guarantor if they are recognized as capable and of course solvent.

The guarantor must be aware that he is committing his own assets to repay a debt contracted by a third party (the debtor), if this third party does not respect his commitment.

Types of surety

A distinction is made between simple and joint guarantees:

• In the simple guarantee, the creditor must first sue the principal debtor and in the event of multiple guarantors, the debt will be distributed in proportion to the guarantors;
• In joint and several guarantees, the creditor can immediately sue the guarantor(s) for the entire debt.

In practice, the creditor has every interest in providing his debtor with a joint and indivisible guarantee.

The guarantee of a consumer credit

Guarantee information

The lender must inform the guarantor:

• of the amount that is guaranteed: the security is only worth this amount plus late payment interest. To this end, a copy of the credit contract must be given in advance and free of charge by the lender to the guarantor;
• When the borrower is late in paying two installments or at least one fifth of the total amount to be repaid;
• Payment facilities granted to the consumer.

Conditions for acting against the surety

The borrower must be in default of payment by at least two installments. In this case, the credit contract will be terminated and the borrower registered with the National Bank of Belgium.

Amount and duration of the deposit

In a credit contract concluded for an indefinite period, the guarantee:

• cannot cover a period that exceeds 5 years;
• can only be renewed at the end of the period with the express agreement of the guarantor.

Free security

Free security covers the situation of a person who commits himself to the principal debtor without obtaining the slightest financial benefit.

Since December 1, 2007, the free deposit is only valid subject to compliance with certain legal conditions:

• A contract separate from the initial credit contract;
• The duration must be indicated in the guarantee document;
• The guaranteed amount must be mentioned;
• The contract must include written statements in the hand of the guarantor: ” by providing security for…within the limit of the sum of…(in figures) covering the payment of principal and interest for a period of…I undertake to repay the creditor of…the are owed on my property and on my income if, to the extent that…does not satisfy them himself”;
• The guarantor’s commitment must be proportional to his ability to repay;
• The obligations of the heirs are limited to their respective share in the inheritance;
• The creditor must inform the surety about the performance of the main obligation. He must do this at least once a year in case of regular execution;

The use of false documents in order to obtain credit is relatively rare but unfortunately it is not completely absent from our professional practice. It is above all a criminal offense which can lead to legal proceedings and have unfortunate consequences. A few words of explanation.

Who are the people producing false documents?

In general, these are people who are already over-indebted and who know full well that they will no longer obtain credit. These are also people who absolutely need money and who have already been refused on the basis of their documents. In general, these are people in worrying financial situations.

Simulate your credit online

Forgery – use of forgery and attempted fraud in Belgian criminal law

Article 196 of the Belgian Penal Code punishes with imprisonment of 5 to 10 years any person who commits forgery of private documents:

• Either by false signatures,
• Either by counterfeiting or alteration of writings or signatures,
• Either by manufacturing agreements, provisions, obligations or discharges or by their insertion after the fact in the acts,
• Either by addition or alteration of clauses, declarations or facts that these acts were intended to receive or note.

Counterfeiting is inevitably accompanied by fraud or attempted fraud. Fraud is punishable by correctional imprisonment of one month to 5 years under article 496 of the Belgian Penal Code.

The credit application

When you submit a credit request, you will be obliged when signing your contract to provide our brokers with certain official documents such as:

• Your identity card
• Your employment contract
• Your salary slips
• Bank account statements
• Your residence card

Our brokers check all your documents with the private and public authorities who issued them. You do not receive your money until these internal checks have taken place.

Our brokers are seasoned and have the experience necessary to detect fakes quickly.
Simulate your credit online

If false documents are produced, your credit contract is blocked and your money will not be paid into your account of course. We are of course obliged to transfer your file to the Crown Prosecutor’s Office where you live. In this case, you will be prosecuted before the criminal court of the judicial district in which your residence is located.

What are the most common fakes?

The fakes we encounter most frequently affect:

• Salary slips
• Employment contracts

Committing a forgery is not a solution

Very often people increase the amount of their salary on their pay slip. Besides the fact that our brokers quickly notice this because this amount does not correspond to the bank account statements, the forger puts himself in a financial situation that is not viable.

He would end up no longer being able to repay his credit and end up being registered with the BNB.

Chat with our brokers

If you are experiencing financial difficulties, we encourage you to discuss with our brokers. If you need money and your credit application is refused, there are different solutions:

• Carry out a credit consolidation or repurchase
• Make a smaller credit and the following year a consolidated additional credit: if the reimbursement of your first premium went well, you will obtain the supplement within the year.

Here are already two negotiable solutions which should allow you to get out of a difficult moment.