bunq Together

I received a garnishment on my German account - what's next?

bunq

Hey bunqers 🌈

I received a garnishment on my German account 🔎

In Germany, the garnishment of a bank account is a legal process for collecting funds based on a recognised claim. According to German law, a garnishment allows the garnishor (the party that’s owed money) to legally force the garnishee (the debtor) to fulfill their financial obligations to said creditor.

What happens when you face a garnishment?

Step 1. We’ll let you know

When we’re contacted by a bailiff/creditor/creditor’s representative and receive all the necessary documentation from them, we put the bank account in question under garnishment and inform the user right away in the app.

To check your received messages from bunq you can follow these steps:

Go to Profile
Click on “See More” under Activity
Check out the messages sent there

Step 2. Collecting the debt

When we receive a court order to garnish your account, we block your account and seize the funds on your account up to the amount of the debt. This happens by transferring your funds into an internal bank account or directly sending the funds to the relevant bailiff/creditor/creditor’s representative.

In this internal account, your money will be reserved for the bailiff. If the available funds in your sub-account/s are enough to fulfill the whole debt, you'll regain full access to your bunq account.

If the available funds, at the time of laying the garnishment aren’t enough to cover the whole debt, any new funds credited after the placing of said garnishment will be reserved for the creditor up to the amount of the whole debt.

Once done with this step, we inform the relevant German bailiff/creditor/creditor’s representative of all seized funds.

Step 3. Unlocking your sub-accounts

When the procedure is completed and the full amount of the debt is paid, or we receive an explicit request from the bailiff/creditor/creditor’s representative, bunq will unlock the sub-accounts belonging to you. When that happens you’ll be able to operate with your account as usual.

If the debt is decreased or you have fulfilled it by means other than bunq, we must receive an official statement (with all relevant document/s) from the bailiff/creditor/creditor’s representative where it’s stated that the proceedings were completed and bunq is at liberty to release the monetary accounts or return any seized funds.

When will my account be unblocked?

This depends on the instructions of the bailiff. To get your account unblocked please contact the bailiff.

What are the costs of a garnishment?

By German law, bunq is required to process every garnishment. Since this is fully regulated by the German law, we don’t charge you for your garnishment/s.

I have another question about a garnishment placed on my account. Who do I contact?

You can always contact your bailiff/creditor/creditor’s representative - they'll be able to answer all of your questions right away.

When will my garnishment finish?

As soon as a judge ruled on the garnishment, we’ll receive the verdict and when we have the needed transfer order, we’ll immediately process all needed payments.

How can I appeal?

You can consult with your bailiff about this and discuss further legal details on your case.

What if I have more than one garnishment ?

When you have multiple garnishments your account will be blocked until all of the garnishment proceedings are completed.