OCU launches campaign against abuse by banks

OCU is launching a new campaign to protect consumers in the field of financial services, where there is still much work to do to fight abuse. The OCU campaign will address all the usual problems from preferred shares, Bankia shareholders or floor clauses to other less well-known but no less important issues both in terms of the number of people affected as in the damage caused to consumers, such as multicurrency mortgages or mortgages indexed to the IRPH (the Mortgage Loan Reference Index).

OCU has detected that there are a significant number of people affected and therefore we believe it necessary to organise information sessions in some of the main Spanish cities, beginning with Barcelona, to inform users about legal remedies, considering that these and similar products have been sold with neither sufficient nor adequate information for consumers.

Despite the various judgments of the Supreme Court, the floor clause is still strangling millions of people with mortgages in Spain. Those affected fear legal costs while banks earn millions of euros in an abusive manner. OCU considers that this situation is unacceptable and will facilitate claims through the courts in order to obtain the annulment of the previously mentioned clause.

Most preferential shareholders and Bankia shareholders who have lost money have had to resort to the courts, but there are still people affected. OCU points out that, in the case of shareholders, they may take legal action even after 24 May, the date originally used as a reference in being the date on which the reformulation of Bankia accounts was made public; however other interpretations are possible and those affected may still be in time to get their money back.

Cases involving mortgages referenced to IRPH (the Mortgage Loan Reference Index) and multicurrency mortgages are less well known than the cases mentioned above, but affect thousands of consumers who have suffered. It is an index that disappeared as a result of a law passed in 2013 but is still present in contracts in which it was originally included. The Euribor is much lower than this index; on an average mortgage of 150,000 euros, the monthly fee can range from around 580 euros in the case of the Euribor to about 670 euros with IRPH. The aim of OCU is to ensure that this index is not applied and is replaced by the Euribor. Although in the absence of official figures there are only estimates, but it seems that hundreds of thousands of families are affected.

For their part, multicurrency mortgages may affect up to 50,000 families; this concerns mortgages pegged to the Swiss franc or the Japanese yen, which involves a very large exposure to risk. Those affected by the changes in the exchange rate are in the terrible situation of owing more capital than initially requested despite having been paying for years. In addition, last January the Central Bank of Switzerland eliminated the cap of 1.20 euro in the parity of the euro with the Swiss franc, which is the straw that breaks the camel’s back regarding a problem that started years ago and may be the final push that convinces the victims to go to court. Overnight, both the monthly repayment and the debt owed to the bank by the borrowers increased by approximately 20%.

The OCU campaign about abuses by banks will extend until at least September. OCU encourages all people affected to tell us about these or any other similar situation or toxic financial product in order to study your case and discuss the various options available for the adequate protection of your rights in this situation of widespread abuse by banks in our country. For further clarification regarding this campaign, OCU has made available the telephone number 900 901 334 free to all concerned.


For more information (media) Eva Jimenez Tel. 917 226 061 prensa@ocu.org