SPANISH BANKS HIT EXPATS WITH MORE CHARGES.

They never learn!  A few years ago,  the E.U. outlawed the practice of Spanish Banks insisting that clients take one of their insurance products or they would pay a higher interest on their mortgage.

They are at it again! Spanish banks are trying to force you into taking one of their own insurance products again, if you want to continue to bank with them.  From March 2020 they have introduced another account administration charge/fee of about €60 a year, paid every 3 months in advance, unless you take out one of the Banks insurance polies.

Not only is this bad practice, but as far as we are aware, it is illegal. !!

Spanish Banks are desperate to sell Insurance products – they make a lot of money on them. To supplement their income, some Spanish banks are now trying to get you to take at least one of their insurance products or they will add an annual administrative charge to your current account.

Some of the issues are :

BANK: Very poor cover for a high price. (get a quote and copy of the insurance policy and make a comparison)

US:  www.insuranceinspain.com are happy to compare the quote for you, free of charge.

BANK: Renewal premiums will go up each year.

US: We search many insurance companies at renewal to keep premiums to a minimum automatically.

BANK: Cancelation must be in writing at least a month in advance and it is unlikely that bouncing your direct debit payment with the bank will cancel the Insurance as they control the DD payment.

US: DD payments can be cancelled by making that instruction to your own bank, if you don’t have the insurance with them.

BANK: No freedom of choice so that you can chose which insurance company you want to use.

US: On a like for like basis, our open market insurance premium will be cheaper.

BANK: No insurance qualified or regulated staff in local banks, they change so often you are never likely to speak to the same person twice.

US: We have a dedicated team of qualified, trained and regulated insurance professionals that will advise you on the right cover for your own circumstances.

BANK: No expert claims handling services and you are likely to be left dealing with a Spanish insurance company, in Spanish to settle your claim.

US: We are expert claim handlers, we do it every day, processing your claim is quicker and one dedicated member of our team will deal with you in your language.

DO YOU STILL WANT TO ACCEPT THE EXTRA BANK CHARGES?