The consumer is always entitled to a reduction in the total cost of the credit if he repays the loan early.
This was established by the Constitutional Court, underlining that in the event of early repayment of the loan, the consumer's right to a reduction in the costs incurred in relation to the credit agreement cannot be limited to certain types of costs, depending on when the contract.
This is what we read in sentence n.
263 filed today (edited by Judge Emanuela Navarretta).
With the ruling, the Court declared the unconstitutionality of article 11-octies, paragraph 2, of decree-law no.
73 of 2021 (the Sostegni-bis decree), in the part in which it limited the right to the reduction due to the consumer to certain types of costs.
The rule concerned contracts concluded after the entry into force of the implementing regulation of directive 2008/48, but before the entry into force of law n.
106 of 2021. In this limitation, the Constitutional Court recognized a violation of the bonds deriving from Italy's membership of the European Union, referring to a ruling by the European Court of Justice which clarified that the right to the reduction must refer to all costs incurred by the consumer,
and that the reduction must operate in proportion to the shorter duration of the contract, consequent to the early repayment.
As a result of the sentence of the Constitutional Court, consumers will therefore have the right to a proportional reduction of all costs incurred in relation to the credit agreement, even if they concluded their agreements before the entry into force of law n.
106 of 2021.