Money you are waiting for: refunds, reimbursements and what people owe you

You sent the jacket back three weeks ago. The October flight was cancelled. You paid for the hotel on the work trip. And the weekend away ended with three friends owing you a couple of hundred each. Separately it is small change. Together it is easily several hundred euros that are yours but not on your account — and nobody is watching them.

A banking app is built for the opposite: it shows what left. For money that is supposed to come in there is no row, no reminder and no date. That is why refunds disappear. Not because anyone steals them, but because nobody chases them.

What you are actually owed

Look through the last two months and most households find at least three of these:

A refund after a return — clothes, electronics, the thing that did not fit.
A cancelled or delayed flight — the ticket back, and often compensation on top.
Expenses for your employer — travel, hotel, equipment you paid for.
An insurance claim — reported, approved, not yet paid.
A tax refund — the assessment says money is coming back.
Friends and family — the dinner you paid, the trip you fronted.

How long it takes under EU rules

You are allowed to expect the money, and you are allowed to know when. These are the deadlines that apply across the EU and EEA:

Online purchases. The Consumer Rights Directive gives you 14 days to withdraw from a purchase made online or away from a shop. Once you have told the seller, they must refund you within 14 days — though they may wait until the goods are back or you have shown proof of posting. So count on two to three weeks from the day the parcel went. Longer than that is not slowness, it is a missed deadline.

Flights. Under Regulation 261/2004, if your flight is cancelled and you choose a refund, the ticket must be reimbursed within seven days. The compensation of €250, €400 or €600, depending on distance, is a separate claim and rarely arrives on its own — you have to ask for it.

Card purchases where the seller does not pay. If you paid by card and the seller neither delivers nor refunds, ask your bank to reverse the payment (a chargeback). Deadlines depend on the card scheme, often around 120 days from the purchase. The earlier you ask, the easier it is.

Expenses for your employer. No law here, only your employer's routine: expenses are usually paid with the next payroll after you file the claim. What slips is not the payment but the filing — many employers stop covering an expense after 30 or 60 days.

Tax refunds. Every country has its own calendar, usually in the months after the filing deadline. The one thing that is the same everywhere: the money goes to the account number the tax authority has on file. An old account number is the most common reason a refund "never came".

Insurance. No fixed deadline, but you are entitled to a date. Ask the handler "when is this paid?" and write the answer down. A claim that is approved but not paid is money you are owed.

Why it slips

Three things come up every time. First, nobody owns the date: "they will refund it soon" is not a date. Second, when the refund finally lands it looks like income — €129 from "ZALANDO SE" ends up as "other income" instead of cancelling out the clothes you bought, and the budget lies in both directions. Third, you count on the money too early: your head has already spent the refund before it is on the account, and the week before payday gets tighter than it needed to be.

Four rules that hold

Write it down with a date. Who, how much, and the latest day it should be in. "Zalando, €129, by 28 October." Without a date there is no delay to react to.
Count only what is certain. A return that has been posted is certain. An insurance claim without a date is not. Follow up what you are unsure about, but do not plan on it.
Check on the date, not "at some point". That is the difference between getting the money and having lost it. A notification on the day the deadline passes does the rest.
Chase in writing. One sentence with the order number and the date is enough: "The return was received on 12 October; the €129 refund was due by 26 October." That is the paper trail you need if it goes to a consumer body or your bank.

What ZivaFinance does for you

Under Money you are waiting for you enter the post: who, amount, date — or describe it in your own words and let Ziva fill in the form. From a purchase in the transaction list it is one tap: "Expecting money back for this?". Then three things happen.

The forecast counts the money on the date you gave — and at the same time shows what the low point is without it, so you can see how much actually hangs on the refund arriving. Every time the bank delivers new transactions, Ziva checks whether an incoming payment fits, by amount and sender, and marks the post received. If less arrives than expected, you are told the difference. And if the date passes with nothing, you get one notification: "was expected on the 26th, not seen in the bank yet". Not an accusation, just what Ziva can see.

One honest limit: "received" is only ever set by a row from the bank. Cash, or a transfer into an account Ziva does not follow, it cannot see — you close the post yourself. And when the refund for a purchase comes in, it lands in the purchase's own category, so clothes net to zero instead of becoming income you never had.

In short

The bank shows what went out. Money that should come in has no row — that is why it slips.
Online returns: refund within 14 days of withdrawing. Flights: the ticket within seven days. Tax: on your country's calendar.
Write down who, how much and when. Count only what is certain.
Check on the date, and chase in writing with the order number.
A refund is not income — it cancels the purchase.

Money you are owed is as much yours as the money on the account. The difference is that someone has to keep an eye on it.

See how an expected payment moves your low point — try the demo

Sources

Frequently asked questions

How long can a web shop take to refund me?

Under the EU Consumer Rights Directive the seller must refund within 14 days of you withdrawing, but may hold the money until the goods are back or you have shown proof of posting. Count on two to three weeks from posting the parcel. Longer is a missed deadline — chase in writing with the order number.

What if the refund does not come?

Send a short written reminder with the order number, the return date and the amount. If there is no answer, your national consumer body can help, and the European Consumer Centre if the seller is in another EU country. If you paid by card, ask your bank for a chargeback early; deadlines are often around 120 days.

Should a refund count as income in my budget?

No. A refund is a purchase that went back, not money you earned. Booked as income, the budget shows both too much spent on clothes and too much income. The right place is the same category as the purchase, so the two cancel out. ZivaFinance does that automatically when the post was created from the purchase.

Should I count money I am waiting for in my forecast?

Only what is certain: a return that has been posted, an expense claim that has been filed, a tax assessment that is final. An insurance claim without a date or a sale that is not agreed should be followed up, not planned on. ZivaFinance lets you choose per post, and always shows the forecast both with and without.