Information on Royal Decree-Law 1/2017, of 20 January, on urgent consumer protection measures in the issue of floor clauses (Official State Gazette - BOE - of 21 January, with entry into force on the same date; recognised by the Resolution of the Congress of Deputies of 31 January 2017 - BOE of 7 February 2017).
The purpose of this Royal Decree-Law is the establishment of measures that facilitate the return, when appropriate, of amounts unduly paid by the individual consumer to credit institutions in application of certain floor clauses contained in loan or credit agreements guaranteed with a property mortgage.
The customers of the Bank with the relevant profile will be able to benefit from this Royal Decree-Law.
Specialised service responsible for settling claims related to the floor clause.
The Bank has created the following specialised service to process the claims received that are within the scope of Royal Decree-Law 1/2017:
- Name: "Specialised Service 'Floor clause' (RDL 1/2017)".
- Postal address: Avenida de Andalucía, 10-12, 29007 Málaga.
- E-mail address: secs.clausulasuelo@unicaja.es
- Date of entry into operation: 21 February 2017.
Filing of claims
The claims, duly signed, will be filed at the branch where the claimant is a customer, or, failing that, at any of the bank's branches that are open to the public.
The bank makes available to its customers, on its website and at branches open to the public, an application form.
The claims must contain at least the following information and documentation:
Personal details of the customer (and of the representative, if applicable): first name, surname(s), Tax ID number (NIF) and address. The representation of the customer, conferred on a third party, must be duly certified.
Identification of the loan subject to the claim (bank account number (CCC), available in any of the receipts for the mortgage loan/credit leading to the claim), and specification of the matters on which a decision from the Specialised Service is requested.
Once the claim has been received, its reception will be acknowledged for the purposes of calculating the deadlines stipulated in Royal Decree-Law 1/2017.
The customer's submission of certain documents together with the application, such as the binding offer, FIPER, loan or credit deed, subrogation or novation deed, private agreements on the modification of conditions, etc., is voluntary, but could speed up the analysis of the claim.
Processing
The bank, through the Specialised Service, will be obliged to process and manage the claims made by customers within the scope of the Royal Decree-Law. The maximum term for the customer and the Bank to reach an agreement will be three months, counted from when the claim was filed. If the claim was filed before 21 February 2017, the three-month period will begin from this date.
In the event that the bank considers the refund to be inappropriate, it will inform the customer of the reasons for its decision.
Once the claim has been received, the bank will calculate, where applicable, the amount to be refunded, and will provide the customer, through its branch, with a notification detailing this calculation.
The customer must state whether they agree with the calculation. If they do, the customer and the bank may agree on compensatory measures other than a cash refund, after 15 days have passed since the date of reception of the decision on their claim.
Other information
The customer and the bank may not take any judicial or out-of-court action against each other with regard to the matter of the claim during the time it is being processed. If a lawsuit is filed prior to the end of the procedure and with the same purpose as the claim, when notified, the process will be suspended until the previous claim is settled.
In the legal proceedings in progress on the entry into force of Royal Decree-Law 1/2017, in which a claim included in its scope is being addressed, launched by one or more customers against the bank, the parties may mutually agree to submit to this procedure, requesting the suspension of the process.
The agreed refunds may have an effect on tax and will be reported to the Tax Agency.
References to the regulation on transparency and the protection of financial services customers
Regulations for consumer protection and general contracting conditions.
- Royal Legislative Decree 1/2007, of 16 November, approving the revised text of the General Law on Consumer and User Protection and other supplementing laws.
- Law 7/1998, of 13 April, on general contracting conditions.
Protection of the user of banking services
- Royal Decree-Law 1/2017, of 20 January, on urgent consumer protection measures in the issue of floor clauses.
- Order ECC/2502/2012, of 16 November, regulating the procedure for presenting claims to the complaints services of the Bank of Spain, the National Securities Market Commission and the General Directorate of Insurance and Pensions.
- Law 44/2002, of 22 November, on Measures to Reform the Financial System.
Banking transparency regulations
- Law 1/2013, of 14 May, on measures to strengthen the protection of mortgagors, debt restructuring and social rents.
- Circular 5/2012, of 27 June, of the Bank of Spain, to credit institutions and payment entities, on banking service transparency and responsibility in granting loans.
- Order EHA/2899/2011 of 28 October, on banking service transparency and customer protection.
- Order of 5 May 1994 on the transparency of the financial conditions of mortgage loans (repealed provision, which may be applicable according to the signing date of the loan/credit transaction).
- Law 2/1994, of 30 March, on the subrogation and modification of mortgage loans.
- Circular number 8/1990, of 7 September, to Credit Institutions, on the transparency of transactions and customer protection (repealed provision, which may be applicable according to the signing date of the loan/credit transaction).