§ 3-25. Information about entering into the agreement and later changes

The Financial Contracts Act (Finansavtaleloven)·LOV-2020-12-18-146

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In brief

The text of the law (unofficial translation)

§ 3-25. Information about entering into the agreement and about later changes to the agreement

For agreements referred to in § 3-22 second paragraph, the following information shall be given about entering into the agreement and about later changes to the agreement:
  1. the customer's (kunde) right to receive, without obligation, a draft agreement and information as referred to in § 3-22 first paragraph
  2. how often and how the service provider (tjenesteyter) will give any information in connection with the agreement, cf. § 3-1 second paragraph
  3. which language the information and contract terms are available in, in accordance with § 3-1 second paragraph
  4. any deadline for acceptance
  5. any terms on passive consent to new contract terms and terms stating that the customer, in order to avoid being bound, must notify the service provider within a set deadline, cf. §§ 3-13 and 3-14
  6. the duration of the agreement
  7. any right or restriction on the parties' ability to end the contractual relationship early or unilaterally, and any costs agreed to be paid in this connection, including for fixed-term deposits and fixed-rate loans under the rules in §§ 4-44 and 2-10
  8. the conditions and procedure for using any right of withdrawal under §§ 3-40 to 3-45.
Source: Lovdata — Finansavtaleloven (the Financial Contracts Act) § 3-25

What does this mean?

The section gathers the information that concerns the agreement itself and what may happen to it later: a draft without obligation, language, acceptance deadline, duration, the ability to end it early, and the right of withdrawal. Several of the points have consequences elsewhere in the Act.

Changes to the terms have their own rules. Under § 3-13, the customer must receive two months' notice before a change that is negative for the customer can take effect. Under § 3-14, the parties can agree that the customer accepts a change by remaining passive, and that the customer must speak up before the change takes effect to avoid being bound. That such an arrangement has been agreed is one of the things the customer must be told under this section.

The information about early termination and costs matters in practice for two types of agreements. For an account with a fixed term (not a payment account (betalingskonto)), the agreement can state that the payment service provider (betalingstjenesteyter) may claim compensation for its loss or a standardised fee if the customer gives notice of termination (oppsigelse) during the fixed term (§ 4-44). If the customer is a consumer (forbruker), an agreed notice period cannot be longer than three months. For a fixed-rate loan (a loan where the interest rate is locked), the creditor (kreditor) can claim compensation for its loss on early repayment if the agreement says so (§ 2-10). However, the creditor cannot claim compensation for its loss if the debtor (skyldner) has not been informed of this right under § 3-25, or if the amount owed is NOK 50,000 or less.

The right of withdrawal is the last point, and the section refers to the rules in § 3-40 to § 3-45. For agreements entered into away from the service provider's business premises, the customer must always be informed about the right of withdrawal (§ 3-22). If the right of withdrawal is used for a service agreement entered into away from the premises, the money must be returned to the consumer no later than 14 days after the notice is received (§ 3-45). For a mortgage (boliglån), the offer is binding on the lender (kredittyter) for seven days (§ 3-40). As for language, the service provider uses Norwegian or another agreed language (§ 3-1).

Related sections
All sections of the Financial Contracts Act →