10 Oct 2017 1:06 AM:

Artistsana. Your first 3 paragraphs are almost identical to what happened to me when I rented with InterRent this Summer at Malaga Airport. As I already had an excess hire policy, the guy at the desk spent 20 minutes trying to sell me every type of excess policy under the sun. It's a wonder he didn't try to sell me his wife. There was every sort of threat, for example, if the car breaks down you have to pay over €300 for recovery. I said you can't be very confident of the standard of the car if you are telling me that. There was also another charge if the car was not brought back spotlessly clean. Before I left the airport, I took at least 20-30 close up photos of the car. When I dropped the car back to the airport, clean and full of petrol, a girl with a clipboard came over, checked it, then said ok, gave me the paperwork, and said hand it in at the office. I gave it to the guy and he came out and said I had damaged the car. I know for a fact I had not damaged it. He said sorry, you will have to pay with the excess over €1,000. To put it lightly, I said you can go F yourself., I have proof I did not do it, so he asked how? I then showed him the photos of that damage before I picked up the car. He then changed his tune. They will try every trick in the book to scam you. My advice, take closeup clear photos of ALL of the car before you leave, and when you drop it off.

Acer

I had a run in many years ago with Centauro where they scammed me for €150 for a so called broken radio that I did not break. When I collected the car, the radio was already on, but we were unable to turn it off. They refused to refund the money that they took off my card. I'm not one to lie down and give in when I know I am not in the wrong. I done lots of research on the web and found they were up to these tricks with many people. I went all the way up to the Spanish Consulate in London with my complaints until something was done about this company. Eventually they were removed from Malaga Airport :) Well worth my €150. Maybe you have just got lucky with them, or they may have changed their ways just to try and worm their way back into the airports again.

 

Thread: Car rental scam -BEWARE

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04 Oct 2017 10:26 AM:

Hi Brian

Yes, I decided to reduce the term of the mortgage so my payments stay the same but the mortgage will be paid off quicker and the bank makes less interest from you. She was surprised when I said I wanted to do it this way, as she said most people do it to reduce their payments. Obviously everyones mortgage conditions are different. I can also payoff an extra 25% of the balance each year without penalty. Best to phone your bank to ask what options you have. 

I'm sure there are organisations to help you in Spain, but I have no idea of their name. Maybe google it. If you have had your clause money refunded and you want to use it to reduce your mortgage, either in payments or the term, phone your bank first before doing so. If you can afford it, reduce the term.

Thread: Steps for Claims on Floor Clauses in Mortgage contracts

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04 Oct 2017 1:01 AM:

Hi Ads

I used an American online mortgage calculator, so just ignore the Dollar signs when you enter your figures, take it as Euros.   http://www.free-online-calculator-use.com/extra-payment-mortgage-calculator.html#calculator

There was no admin fees for the overpayment. For some strange reason they would not let me use the exact amount of refund to reduce the term of the mortgage, I had to pay either a slightly lower or higher amount to fall in line with their exact monthly payments. 

Thread: Steps for Claims on Floor Clauses in Mortgage contracts

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29 Sep 2017 1:37 PM:

Hi Maria

Thank you for your kind words. I have seen you on EyeonSpain for many years now. You deserve an award for what you have done helping people over the years in your own free time. Keep up the good work. 

Ads

At no point did I use a solicitor to make any of the claims. I only contacted my solicitor when I got the letter saying I was now not getting the refund. The next thing I knew, they had already put the money in my account. I decided not to bother chasing them for the rest of the money being dragged through the courts etc, and the additional costs. Not worth the stress.

One other point, the letter I then received said if I had contacted the bank within 3 days, then the money refunded could be used to pay down the mortgage without penalty. As I was away when the letter dropped through my door, I phoned them and they still let me use the funds to reduce the mortgage. Make sure you tell them you want to use the funds to reduce the term of the mortgage not the payments, otherwise you will pay more interest over a longer term if your bank gives you this option.

Hope this helps everyone.

 

Thread: Steps for Claims on Floor Clauses in Mortgage contracts

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28 Sep 2017 10:52 AM:

The banks are a bit of a lottery. There is no knowing how they will react to your claim. When I claimed for the first clause repayment a few years ago, they refunded me in a few weeks. When I put in a claim for this latest ruling 6 months ago, I got a reply within the 3 months deadline with a breakdown of what refund was due for each year. I phoned the bank to ask what the interest rates were for each year on the date my rate was set for the following 12 months and was told this information can be found when you log in online. What I found is that they have withdrawn all information from the start of the mortgage to the date the first clause pay-out was done. I wonder if this is to stop people calculating what amount they are actually due back. Hmmmm, but they were not going to pull the wool over my eyes. I phoned the bank and asked them what date each year my mortgage rate is set as it is recalculated every 12 months. I then went online and found out what the Euribor rate was on this date then added the banks percentage charge on top. I then dug out all of the old paperwork, went online and found a mortgage calculator that gave you a breakdown of interest and capital and calculated what interested was charged for that specific year, then started again with the new balance and new 12-month interest rate. I then compared this to the interest rates the bank was charging me to work out what I had been overcharged for each year. In the meantime, I received another letter from the bank saying I no longer qualified for the refund. I decided not to reply, but to continue working out what I should be getting. It takes a bit of time to do, but it's well worth doing it. I calculated they owed me more than double than what they originally offered. I think the banks are chancing their arm by offering a lower amount back in the hope that people just accept it. The problem is, if you do, it says in the letter it is a full and final claim if you do. 

I then contacted my solicitor to say, surely, they have already accepted liability by offering me the refund. Before I got a reply from my solicitor, I checked my mortgage account and found the bank had lodged a 50% increase on the original amount offered into my account even though I had not disputed their recent refusal. So, it goes to show you have no idea how the banks will react. 

My advice to everyone is, do your homework. Phone the bank and find out what date your mortgage rate is set. Go online and find the Euribor rate for that date. Add the banks percentage charge. Find out the balance outstanding the day before the first payment of the year is due, remembering it won't necessarily be 1st January. Use the mortgage calculator to find out what the capital and interest is for each year. Copy and paste each year’s table into a document to send to the bank, and write a cover letter to make the clause refund claim requesting a reply within the 3-month deadline as written in law. Hopefully by doing this you will get a far bigger pay-out and they won't try to pull a fast one on you.

Good luck.

Thread: Steps for Claims on Floor Clauses in Mortgage contracts

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