Doktorarbeit: Wirksamkeit automatischer Verlängerungsklauseln in Verbraucherverträgen

Wirksamkeit automatischer Verlängerungsklauseln in Verbraucherverträgen

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Schriften zum Verbraucherrecht, volume 15

Hamburg , 208 pages

ISBN 978-3-339-13326-7 (print) |ISBN 978-3-339-13327-4 (eBook)

About this book deutschenglish

Automatic renewal clauses in general terms and have always been a nuisance for consumers: for a long time, one remained bound to a disliked contract just because one had forgotten to terminate it in time. This nuisance was recently brought to the attention of the German legislator by the fact that such clauses were finding their way into more and more areas of life. While such clauses were previously used primarily for magazine subscriptions and fitness studios, they can now have become a common practice in a wide range of other consumer-oriented businesses, such as mobile communications, streaming services, and dating platforms.

In response to this practice, which is perceived as hostile to consumers, the German legislator severely restricted automatic renewal clauses in 2022. Whereas it was previously possible for the contract to be extended by up to one year after a three-month notice period, now only an extension for an indefinite period is possible, during which the consumer can terminate the contract at any time within one month. This curtailment of contractual freedom to protect the consumer is the result of a controversial legislative process in which various maximum renewal and notice periods and alternative approaches such as an obligation to remind consumers to exercise their termination right were discussed.

To assess such a far-reaching legislative intervention, the economic background of automatic renewal clauses must be examined. Why do businesses include automatic renewal clauses in their general terms and conditions, why do consumers agree to them, under which circumstances is an automatic renewal clause justified and when is it not?

To answer these questions, general principles need to be established using economic analysis of the law and then be applied to contracts that commonly include automatic renewal clauses: mobile communications contracts, digital content con-tracts, and membership in dating platforms. With this result in mind, the legislative intervention by the German legislator can be assessed.

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