House insurance: A warning. - Page 2

Hi Kim,Jane & everyone who's following this.

I totally agree. I'm really shocked at how Sabadell treat customers. No renewal notice, no advice of the premium, but I have to suck it up coz I didn't get to them within the 30 days! I'm voting with my feet and either going with Holabank or try and manage with my Irish or German (N26) account.  I have to say, I've noticed a general decline in customer care in various services  both at home in IRL and here. I've just had a marathon session trying to cancel SKY at home in IRL. The whole process took me nearly 16 hours on hold.  I hope this won't take so long!

Update:

I spoke this morning to Sabadell Insurance. I actually got the same woman I dealt with yesterday. I asked her to confirm the premium last year and this year, they were roughly 20 EUR apart. I then quoted the Spanish Law ( thank-you Jayne)  and told her they have to inform me of the price change, and legally I am entitled to pay what I paid last year OR to cancel, and I wanted to cancel.  There then followed almost 20 mins of back and forth argument as she tried to tell me there's nothing she can do, I must speak to the branch. I told her that she was OBLIGED to obey the law, I asked to speak to her supervisor, she said I couldn't as she was working from home. She insisted that I needed to get in touch with the branch, I said I was in touch with Sabadell Insurance, whom she was an agent for, and she was obliged to obey Spanish law, indeed she SHOULD know the law, and it wasn't up to me as a client to know how the laws of Spain related to this. She continued to try and fob me off to the branch, I insisted she deal with it, if she needed to phone the branch that was her issue not mine. We finally, after a very long and very tetchy call, agreed she would contact the branch and call me back, but I wanted this policy cancelled in accordance with the law.

What's remarkable about this, is that it was up to me to  discover this. And, I want to particularly thank Jayne here for sterling advice. The Sabadell rep should surely know the legal position regarding this legislation, yesterday she had told me that the onus was entirely on me to follow up and check the renewal premium, and I even said to her then, that is was utterly bizarre that the onus was entirely on me to find out the premium, and that, if I didn't check this within 30 days of renewal, Sabadell could effectively quote what they liked and I would have to pay it. She didn't argue this interpetation.

Anyhow, hopefully they will revert and simply allow me to cancel. I have to say, you would need stamina for this battle, and I pity anyone who was a bit frail or without access to this forum (fantastic resource) because they could literally be taken to the cleaners in situations like this.  I'll post on the outcome, and I would like to especially give a shout-out to Kerry-Ann in LIBERTY SEGUROS in Quesada who offered me a really good quote with excellent cover- I hope to be able to take it up. And especially to everyone here for such great help. 

Hi Declan,

Thanks for the update - and good on you for sticking with it.  If I understand this correctly, the agent who sold you Sabadell's insurance is now pursuing this with your branch on your behalf? Are they an independent agent, or working within the branch?  Either way, I would confirm this in writing to the agent, copied to your branch.

Just to give you some hope, friends of mine had a similar issue last year, when Sabadell failed to cancel the insurance policy on a property they had sold.  Like you, it took some perseverance, but after 2 visits to their branch (they'd bought the insurance direct, rather than through an agent), they did receive a refund.

I look forward to hearing you achieve a successful outcome.

Good luck!

Kind regards, 

Kim

Hi Kim

I bought the insurance thru the branch AFAIK in 2019. They contacted me following my house purchase. The policy is on my Sabadell account and the phone numbers are for Sabadell insurance, so I don't think I'm with an agent but directly with the bank. I can only assume that the branch is linked to the policy, and the agent this morning/yesterday suggested that only the branch could tell her to cancel, but to be honest that seems like a cop out. The bottom line is Sabadell must obey the law and they should know the law. This WHOLE situation could have been avoided if they had simply sent a renewal notice. They can  send me a note on an ATM withdrawal but apparently can't/won't tell me when my renewal is due and what the price is. I look forward to hearing back from them, I think I have them on the lack of notification and the premium change.

Yes Sabadell are very sneaky - the Insurances they sell contribute to the Bank workers salaries in the form of commission - so of course it's in their own interest NOT to inform you of expensive renewals! - I had a water leak which I claimed on the policy and the renewal was almost 3 times the original price......told them where to shove that figure and went with Grand Alicante.....much better service and covered for 6months of the year empty house.   A lot of policies only insure for 90 days!

I still have not heard from Sabadell, but I found a complaints section and email and have fwded a formal complaint regarding the matter, so there can be no way they can deny I made a complaint.

It's really disappointing. I much prefer to stay with existing providers, I'm with my bank in IRL 25 years, but this kind of behaviour really bugs me.  Effectively the person wanted to say hey, you must treat the 30 day rule as sacred, but don't dare think we have to follow the rules, this is a one-way street.  I used to work in insurance, and this is completely unacceptable. Imagine being told we don't have to send you a renewal notice and we can charge you what we like, but you aren't allowed to cancel.

I had a  had experience like this, they sold me a second house insurance for the same house and for the same year. 

I had notnoticed until the second year.

When i complained i was told i could not Claim a refund as 12 months had elapsed.  I requested the duplicate be cancelled and they cancelled the original which was costing less.

They have an office where you can appel, a Joke.

I had the same thing happen to me with BBVA a few years ago. I went and complained but to no avail. My car insurance agent told me to remove all the money from the account and close it. He said it would cost them more to recover the insurance through the courts. When I went back I found that they had taken the money from my account after my complaint. Again I asked for the money back as it wasn't due. No luck! I closed the account on the spot. Went home wrote them a letter cancelling any future renewals etc and posted it with a signed certificate of receipt request. From 440 E down to 230 E with my car insurer and IBEX. My neighbour has his house insured with Sabadell over 400E too, his house is the same as my present house where I pay a mere 130E, cover appeared to be roughly the same. I wrote his letter in Spanish to Sabadell, luckily he had 4 months to go.

Banks are notorious especially if you have a mortgage with them too!!!!!

I have read what you have written but this can happen here in England But pleased I read this because I am in the process of buying my property I have found and will need home insurance If you don’t mind who did you get to insurance for your home in Spain so I may get a Quote 

Regards Angela 66

Hello

I had exactly the same experience as donnacadh! 2 policies in the same year for the same house. Sabadell at its best,!!

I didn't get a refund, no notice taken of my complaints! I was told I should have noticed as soon as it happened but,  as I was a newbie buying my first house in Spain, I just assumed the bank was acting correctly. A friend told me it was a complete try-on!

I'm still with Sabadell but no longer have insurance with them!!

If you are buying with a mortgage from the bank and don't want their insurance they will increase the interest rate. they also will require life insurance and the same thing happens again.

There is Linea directa, or something similar I think, but there are many insurance brokers/agents out there, get a few quotes. If you are in Torrevieja, there is an English speaking one on the (Av Delfina Viudes) edge of the industrial estate near the Plant nursery, Tanatoria and opposite the little Nordic group of companies. I got a quote for car insurance from them last year and used it as a lever to get my normal agent to reduce the premium. He is in Benalmadena but that is a long story......