Swiss franc loans: the documents to gather.

Three documents are essential to have a Swiss franc loan checked: the loan offer with its appendices, the amortisation schedule and any amendments. For a repaid loan, the redemption statement is added. A photo taken with your phone will do, as long as it stays legible. A missing document does not stop you from starting, because it can be uploaded later from your online space.

The three essential documents.

These three documents start the review of the claim. If your loan never had an amendment, you simply say so when uploading.

The loan offer, the key document.

The offer is the document that ACTIVE AVOCATS, a firm of the COGEP AVOCATS group, reads first, because it contains the exchange‑rate clause. The offer you accepted is your loan contract: every page is needed, signatures included. Whether a term is unfair is assessed at the time the contract is concluded, in light of all the circumstances surrounding it (article L. 212-1 of the French Consumer Code) Source [1].

For the Court of Justice of the European Union, the bank must provide sufficient and accurate information. It must make it possible to understand how the mechanism actually works and to assess its consequences over the whole term of the contract (10 June 2021, C-776/19 to C-782/19) Source [2]. On 30 March 2022, the Cour de cassation held that an exchange‑rate clause without numerical simulations of unfavourable scenarios is not plain and intelligible Source [3].

The appendices and the signed notices matter as much as the offer. In case no. 24-18.018, decided on 9 July 2025, the offer and two signed notices informed the borrower, and the clause was upheld Source [4]. This is recent case law, liable to change. Every page therefore counts, including those that bear a signature.

The French Consumer Code, in its version in force in October 2026, also governs the content of the offer (article L. 313-25) Source [5]. For a variable‑rate loan, the offer comes with a notice on how the rate varies and a simulation of its impact. For a foreign currency loan, the lender informs the borrower of the risks at the latest when the offer is issued (article L. 313-64) Source [6]. For an older loan, the rules that apply are those in force on the date of the offer, which the lawyer checks.

What the lawyer reads in the offer.

The lawyer goes through the offer and its appendices for what the borrower was told about the exchange rate. In particular, the lawyer notes:

• the currency of the loan, the currency of the repayments, and the clause that moves from one to the other
• the worked examples and simulations, in particular for a rise in the franc
• the notices and appended documents, their date and their signature
• the rate and, for a variable‑rate loan, its index and margin
• the term, and what the contract provides when the franc rises, for example an extension
• the date of the offer, the date it was accepted and the names of the borrowers

These elements show whether the borrower could measure the risk they were taking. Our guide to the exchange‑rate clause sets out the criteria the court applies.

The amortisation schedule.

The amortisation schedule shows the outstanding capital and the instalments. Upload the one provided with the offer, and the latest one if the bank has issued a new one. For a fixed‑rate loan, the Consumer Code today provides for a schedule that sets out, for each instalment, the share of capital and the share of interest Source [5].

Each line of the schedule gives the date of the instalment, its amount, the share of interest, the share of capital and the outstanding capital. The insurance premium sometimes appears too. For a Swiss franc loan, these amounts are in francs, and the euros debited can be read on the bank statements.

A variable‑rate loan may have had several schedules, reissued as the rate changed or amendments were signed. A schedule that does not start at the loan’s first instalment has been reissued, for example after an amendment. Keep them all, with their dates. Hello Justice’s simulator checks its calculation against the lines of your bank’s schedule, and each schedule serves that check.

The amendments and changes to the loan.

An amendment is any document that changed the loan: renegotiation, change of rate or term, conversion into euros. It states what changed and from what date. A conversion into euros, for example, is read with the rate at which the outstanding capital was converted.

For a loan repaid early, the bank’s redemption statement shows the capital, interest and fees paid on the day of settlement. Our article on the repaid Swiss franc loan covers this case.

The additional documents.

Other documents are useful without being required:

• the loan account statements, which show the instalments taken, in euros
• the correspondence with the bank
• the early repayment statement, if applicable
• the borrower insurance contract
• the proof of income in Swiss francs and the latest tax notice

A valid identity document for each borrower, front and back, and proof of address complete the documents.

The additional documents remain optional. They are kept apart from the essential documents, in a sub‑folder of your online space.

Finding a missing document.

1. Look among the papers from the purchase of the property, where the offer may have been kept with the deed of sale.
2. Check your online banking, where the amortisation schedule and the statements are often available.
3. Ask your bank for a copy, in writing, quoting the loan reference.
4. If the loan is secured by a mortgage, the mortgage was granted by notarial deed (article 2409 of the French Civil Code) Source [7]. The notary’s office that drew it up is another place to look.
5. Upload what you already have. A missing document can be added later from your online space.

Uploading documents in the programme.

The programme’s eligibility test starts with a few questions about your loan. You then add the loan offer, the amortisation schedule and any amendments, or you upload them later from your online space.

A document you upload is received with no wait for approval, and an email confirms it. Your online space shows, document by document, what has been received and what is still to be provided. It also holds your claim’s messages, the assistant and the frequently asked questions. ACTIVE AVOCATS reads your loan offer and checks its dates. Our guide to the borrower’s remedies covers the whole process, and the glossary the terms of the claim.

Frequently asked questions.

I no longer have my loan offer: can I still submit a claim?

Yes. You can start with the eligibility test and upload the documents later from your online space. The offer remains the document the law firm reads first: ask your bank for a copy.

Is a photo taken with my phone enough?

Yes, as long as it stays legible. Photograph every page of the offer and its appendices, including those that bear a signature.

My loan never had an amendment: what should I do?

You simply say so when uploading, by ticking the box provided. The document is then no longer expected.

Who can see the documents I upload?

Your documents can be seen by the ACTIVE AVOCATS law firm and by the Hello Justice team handling your claim, subject to professional secrecy. They are not passed to your bank while your claim is being reviewed. If proceedings are brought, the lawyer discloses to the bank the documents on which the claim rests.

Do I pay to upload my documents?

No. Having your case checked is free, as are the eligibility test and the submission. The costs of an accepted claim are set out in our article on the cost of proceedings.

Do I need to send the originals?

No. For the review of the claim, legible copies or photos are enough, and each document can be uploaded from your computer or your phone.

Do I need bank statements for every year?

No, they remain optional. They show the euros actually debited, and they complete the calculation when the rate applied by the bank differs from the reference rate.