The complaints that the Bank of Spain receives about the activity of financial entities have skyrocketed this year and most of them have to do with one product: mortgages. This is reflected in the 2023 Complaints Report published by the body chaired by José Luis Escrivá, which also anticipates how these complaints are going in the first half of 2024.
In all of last year, the institution opened 33,191 files, a figure very similar to that of 2021 and 2022. However, it notes that “an acceleration was experienced in the last part of the year, which seems to continue and intensify very significantly in 2024.” Specifically, between January and June, 38,619 files have been processed. “The full-year figures corresponding to the three previous years would have already been beaten and it would be very close to the historical annual maximum,” he indicates. An analysis that began in 1987 and saw record claims in 2017, with more than 40,100 procedures.
If the Bank of Spain’s forecasts are met, this year there will be 55,000 or 60,000 claims, which could be almost double that of recent years.
The supervisor admits that the incidence of complaints related to mortgage loans, both this year and last, is being “very relevant.” It is “both in quantitative terms – 10,145 files, representative of 30.6% of the total – and qualitative terms, affecting the absolute and relative number of non-admissions.” The reason, he explains, is that “a good part of these claims have come from the Supreme Court’s rulings and preliminary rulings resolved by the Court of Justice of the European Union on the nullity of the mortgage loan formalization expense clause. and on the deadlines for exercising the corresponding actions, which, without a doubt, have generated expectations of compensation in the entities’ clients.”
These growing complaints are also reflected in how banks are increasing the provisions they keep in their balance sheets to face the million-dollar legal disputes over floor clauses and mortgage expenses, as we discuss in this topic.
They remain unresolved
These complaints about mortgage expenses, argues the Bank of Spain, “have sometimes been channeled through complaints to the Bank of Spain without correctly assessing their suitability to the case, given the absence of jurisdiction in this instance to rule on the matter. regard”. This results in a good part of these incidents falling on deaf ears. For example, he argues, he cannot act when the issue is sub judice and a judicial resolution is pending.
The supervisor explains in the report that “there is a very significant number of claims that, after being analyzed, are revealed to be impossible to resolve by the Bank of Spain.” In 2023, it was 61% and in the first half of this year it has reached 84%, because this institution does not have powers linked to action regarding mortgage expenses. Nor with claims about fraudulent operations with cards and transfers, which is also reflected in these percentages.
Specifically, the Bank of Spain indicates that it cannot accept complaints that must be submitted to other organizations, such as in the case of market operations, which must go to the CNMV; or from the General Directorate of Insurance because they are, for example, pension funds. In those cases, they are referred to those organizations. The same applies to complaints regarding data protection.
“We cannot enter when there is a lack of knowledge on the part of customer service,” assumes the Bank of Spain. That is, when you have to complain, you first have to go to the bank. But the majority of cases where the supervisor cannot act are where he has no powers, such as fraudulent operations with credit cards, when the claimant gives up the security keys, because he has been the victim of a scam. Nor in issues related to the nullity or abuse of clauses, which is where the mortgage expenses are.
The Bank of Spain explains that it can enter into complaints related to purely banking business, but not when the nullity or abuse of clauses or expenses is requested. It is also striking that, sometimes, complainants come with arguments prepared by lawyers or consumer associations. The supervisor can act on issues such as whether the provision of funds has been overcharged or not reported correctly, he lists.
And regarding where citizens have to go to claim mortgage expenses, the Bank of Spain emphasizes that the route is judicial.
By numbers, mortgages have concentrated more than 10,100 claims, while cards have more than 9,600 and checking accounts have a little more than 5,000, according to the breakdown of the Bank of Spain.
Claims by entities
If viewed by entity, the banks that have received the most complaints at the Bank of Spain in 2023 are Caixabank (9,474 complaints), BBVA (5,904), Santander (3,763), Unicaja (2,381) and Banco Sabadell (2,381).
And if you only see those related to mortgaged contracts, the supervisor indicates which banks are above average. There are BBVA, Santander and Unicaja.
The amount returned decreases in one year, from 6 million euros to 4.76 million, something that the Bank of Spain does not relate to any derivative, but rather because the amounts requested are smaller.
Source: www.eldiario.es
