What are the protections for the debtor in the context of the SEPA direct debit?
The protection of the debtor was the subject of a European directive that was transposed in Belgium by the law of 19 April 2014 on payment and credit services.
Thanks to this legislation, the debtor can, through his bank:
- impose certain limits with respect to:
- the maximum amount per collection,
- the maximum frequency of collections in a given period;
- indicate the creditors for whom collections can or cannot be accepted;
- prevent any direct debit on his account;
- request the unconditional reimbursement of a payment already made, within eight weeks of the collection.
However, the legal reflection period for crowdfunding is currently 4 days. It is therefore not possible to ask for a refund more than 4 days after the end of the campaign, since the investment will be made in the company in which you have chosen to invest. This amount will not be recoverable at that time.