“Borrowers are to repay the interest-only loan based on the margin and will recover over PLN 150,000. zloty — this decision was issued by the District Court in Olsztyn. This is one of the few judgments so far removing the WIBOR indicator from the contract,” informs the Bankier.pl portal.
After interest rates skyrocketed in recent years due to extremely rapid price increases, borrowers faced a huge increase in installments. For some, they were unbearable, so some began to question contracts with banks with variable interest rates. It turns out that there are cases in which courts rule in favor of bank customers.
See also: Which bank should I go to for a mortgage loan? There's only so much you can “take out”
The latest described case concerns the mortgage loan agreement of 2021 with Cooperative Bank in Szczytno. In September 2024, customers filed a complaint, indicating that the contract contained prohibited clauses regarding the WIBOR index. They called on the bank to pay over PLN 150,000. PLN due to overpaid interest installments. The bank rejected the complaint, and in January 2025, the borrowers filed a lawsuit in court.
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Loan without WIBOR. What did the court decide?
Effect? Two key issues are:
- ordering the return of undue benefits resulting from overpaid interest installments resulting from prohibited clauses in the loan agreement
- determining that they are not bound by selected provisions of the contract relating to WIBOR 3M in the future
The court ruling quoted by Bankier mainly stated that neither the contract nor any other document related to its conclusion provided information on what the WIBOR 3M reference rate is, who sets it and on what terms.
Loan without WIBOR? The Cooperative Bank in Szczytno comments
The Cooperative Bank in Szczytno does not agree with the judgment i filed an appeal on October 7, 2025. “We are of the opinion that this judgment is unjustified for many reasons that were presented in the appeal,” said the bank's president, Krzysztof Karwowski, quoted by the portal.
In his opinion, the bank fulfilled its information obligations towards customersand the law did not and does not provide for the need to inform borrowers about the principles of determining the reference index.
“The judgment of the District Court in Olsztyn is invalid. It should be remembered that there is no final judgment that would question the legality and transparency of the WIBOR indicator. This is the best proof that banks properly fulfill their obligations towards customers,” the president emphasized.
Loans from WIBOR. The number of cases in courts is increasing
According to data from 47 district courts, in the first nine months of 2025, approximately 1,300 lawsuits were filed regarding WIBOR-based loans. This is a significant increase compared to the 670 cases recorded in the same period in 2024.
In Business Insider, we previously quoted attorney Jakub Bartosiak from MBM Legal, who indicated that interest in loans based on variable interest rates is growing, but has not yet reached a mass scale. The expert emphasizes that the problem affects millions of people who are increasingly aware of their rights as consumers.
— The number of cases can be assessed as moderate. This is due to the condition of owaiting for the judgment of the CJEU, which will be issued in the first quarter of 2026. will answer questions for a preliminary ruling asked by the District Court in Częstochowa. They are related to the manner of the bank's information obligation and the related transparency requirements of the variable interest rate clause referring to the WIBOR reference index. Only when the above-mentioned is issued. judgment, it will be possible to assess the scale of lawsuits in these cases – comments Dr. Hab. Paweł Szczęśniak from the Department of Financial Law at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin.
Mec. Jakub Bartosiak emphasizes that banks strongly discourage borrowers from taking any action. Finally – for the first time in history – they propose a fixed (periodically) interest rate in loans and annexes. According to the expert, customers are becoming more and more aware of their rights. Encouraged by successes in Swiss francs and other currencies, they expect banks to comply with the law. According to the lawyer, it is characteristic that borrowers now apply from all over Poland, and not only residents of larger cities, as was the case with currency agreements at the beginning. Currently, the regulations allow cases to be referred to different courts. Thanks to this – for now – they can move a little faster.
— The scale of the phenomenon is not large yet, but the dynamics are disturbing. For banks, this poses a serious problem related to establishing provisions for the so-called legal risk. Each lawsuit means the need to secure amounts for damages, court costs and potential lost interest. These secured funds limit the banks' operational capabilities, and in the long term the related costs will be passed on to subsequent borrowers. Given the already high interest rates on mortgage loans compared to many EU countries, this cost will remain high – despite the reduction of NBP interest rates – emphasizes Dr. Hab. Anna Korzeniowska, prof. UMCS from the Department of Banking and Financial Markets of this university.
