Belgium's Court of Cassation has overturned a 2025 Brussels appellate ruling that found a victim of online banking fraud guilty of "gross negligence," setting a stricter standard for lenders seeking to shift liability onto customers.
Last month, the country's highest court defined gross negligence as conduct that a reasonable, normally prudent payer would never engage in or fail to engage in — a threshold significantly higher than the one applied by the Brussels Court of Appeal. The ruling narrows the circumstances under which banks can refuse to reimburse clients who fall prey to phishing and other digital scams.
Consumer Protection Minister Rob Beendors urged banks to comply with the law rather than sidestep it, signaling government pressure on the financial sector to honor reimbursement obligations in fraud cases.