Cancellation fees in German driving schools: cutoff, amount and wording in your terms

Without an agreed rule, a lesson cancelled at short notice is usually your loss. At driving schools the cancellation fee is therefore written into the AGB, and it must be agreed before the first driving lesson is booked. A rule that only comes up after the cancellation convinces nobody.

As a clause in the AGB, the cancellation fee is measured against §§ 307 and 309 of the German Civil Code (BGB). Driving school terms therefore usually state that the learner may prove a smaller loss — for example when the instructor filled the time with another lesson.

How a specific clause is judged depends on its wording. That is why your wording belongs in a lawyer's review, and this guide sticks to what is common practice at driving schools.

A few points have become standard in driving school terms:

• A cutoff of 24 to 48 hours before the lesson. Cancel earlier and you pay nothing.
• A flat share of the lesson price rather than an arbitrary amount. Linking it to the price on your posted price list (Preisaushang) makes the fee easy to follow.
• An explicit note that the learner may prove a smaller loss.
• Clear ways to cancel, for example in the portal or by phone, so the time of cancellation is on record.
• If the school cancels, the learner pays no fee.

The sketch below shows which parts a clause usually contains. It is a starting point for the conversation with your lawyer, not a reviewed model clause:

“If the learner cancels an agreed driving lesson less than [24] hours before the start or does not appear, the driving school charges a cancellation fee of [share] of the lesson price according to the posted price list. The learner remains free to prove that the driving school suffered no loss or a smaller one. Cancellations can be made via [portal / phone].”

Make sure the cutoff and the share are the same numbers in the training contract, in the AGB and everywhere the rule is shown.

A cancellation fee that the learner discovers only on the invoice costs trust, even when it is in the AGB. Show the rule where the booking happens: in the training contract, on your website and at the moment of booking. For learners under 18, raise it with the parents — they are the ones who pay.

Applying the rule consistently matters just as much. Waive the fee for one learner and insist on it for another, and you have the same discussion every time. A rule that applies to everyone the same way needs no negotiating.

In Timeplanned you set the cutoff and the cancellation fee once for the school, for example 24 hours, and can set a different rule for individual appointments. The amount is an item on your price list. In the portal the rule appears under every bookable theory evening. When a learner cancels too late, they see the cancellation fee before confirming, and afterwards the appointment shows as “Cancelled — charged” in attendance and for learners on a per-visit account, with the fee on the monthly invoice.

When you cancel an appointment yourself, nothing is ever charged. Timeplanned does not decide whether your clause holds; it applies the rule you set. How this fits together with booking, the training record and SEPA direct debit is shown on Timeplanned for driving schools. For cancellation rules in one-to-one teaching more generally, see no-show fees in tutoring.