Terms and Refund Policy

Provider: Elterngeld Help. Full company details are listed on the Impressum. Contact: hello@elterngeldhelp.com.

Two paid products. Prices include statutory VAT where applicable.

• Application PDF — €49 (one-time): a 23-page pre-filled Elterngeld application form in English, plus a checklist of the attachments your Elterngeldstelle expects. Delivered digitally as a PDF download after you finish the guided form.
• Consultation — €179 (one-time): a 45-minute video call with an Elterngeld advisor (Marijke or Jochen), preceded by a written questionnaire so we arrive on the call prepared, followed by a written summary and a finished, state-specific application pack.

The contract forms the moment your payment is confirmed by Stripe. You receive a confirmation email immediately. If the email does not arrive within 10 minutes, check your spam folder or reply to hello@elterngeldhelp.com.

Application PDF: available immediately after you complete the guided form. The magic-link email gives you a fresh download whenever you need it.

Consultation: we deliver the finished application pack within 48 hours of the video call. If we miss that window without prior agreement, you are entitled to a full refund (see section 6 below).

As a consumer you have the right to withdraw from this contract within 14 days without giving any reason, under §§ 355, 356 BGB. The withdrawal period begins on the day the contract is formed.

Important — digital content: for the €49 Application PDF, the right of withdrawal expires the moment we begin delivery if you have given your explicit consent and acknowledged that the right of withdrawal is lost on delivery (§ 356 Abs. 5 BGB). You give that consent at checkout. Until then, the standard 14-day right applies.

To withdraw, send a clear statement (email is fine) to hello@elterngeldhelp.com. You can use the model withdrawal form available on request.

These are voluntary guarantees we offer above and beyond the statutory rights in section 5. Claiming one does not waive the others.

€49 Application PDF — 60-day refund if rejected. If your Elterngeldstelle rejects the application because of an error in our pre-filled PDF, we refund the €49 in full within 5 working days. To claim, forward us the official rejection letter (Ablehnungsbescheid) within 60 days of receiving it. We do not refund rejections caused by your own data entries being wrong, missing attachments you were responsible for providing, or eligibility issues unrelated to the PDF itself.

€179 Consultation — 48-hour delivery guarantee. If we do not deliver the finished application pack within 48 hours of the video call, you can claim a full refund. The clock starts at the end of the call. Delays caused by missing or incorrect information from your side pause the clock.

€179 Consultation — eligibility refund. If the consultation reveals you do not qualify for Elterngeld at all (and we missed flagging that during the questionnaire), we refund the full €179. We do not refund after delivery in cases where Elterngeld was always going to be available but the amount turned out to be smaller than you hoped.

We reserve the right to cancel and refund a Consultation booking if we identify a conflict of interest, a question that requires licensed legal or tax advice we are not authorised to give, or any other reason that would make the call unhelpful. In those cases we refund the full €179, no questions asked.

Elterngeld Help provides guidance, calculations, and form pre-fill — not legal advice, tax advice, or a guarantee of how the Elterngeldstelle will rule on your application. See our Disclaimer for the full scope.

We are liable without limitation for intent and gross negligence, and for damage resulting from injury to life, body, or health. For ordinary negligence we are only liable for breach of essential contractual obligations (Kardinalpflichten), limited to foreseeable damages typical for this type of contract. The €49 or €179 you paid is a useful reference point for what counts as typical.

How we handle your data is documented separately in our Privacy Policy. Payments are processed by Stripe; their privacy policy applies to the payment step.

The European Commission provides an online dispute resolution platform at ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr. We are not obliged to participate in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration body, and we generally do not. We prefer to resolve issues directly — please email hello@elterngeldhelp.com and we will reply within 2 working days.

German law applies, with the mandatory consumer-protection rules of your country of residence remaining unaffected. Place of performance and jurisdiction follow the rules of the Bundeszivil- and Verbraucherschutzrecht.

We update these terms when our products or processes change. The version that applies to your purchase is the one published at the moment your contract is formed. Material changes are flagged in the next confirmation email after they take effect.