A BRITISH pensioner is suing CaixaBank after claiming it cancelled a life insurance policy intended to guarantee repayment of his joint mortgage – without telling him.
Brian Rogers, 73, says bank staff insisted that if either he or his late wife Linda died, the policy would cover the mortgage.
So the former UK financial investigator was ‘very shocked’ to discover the policy no longer existed after Linda died last year.
He has since discovered it was automatically cancelled when he turned 70 three years ago, meaning he ‘cannot claim’ Linda’s share of the mortgage repayment.
“Why would I cancel it?” Rogers asked the bank, claiming there had been a ‘big lack of transparency’ from the start.
“I signed a lot of documents without an independent translator present,” Brian wrote in an official complaint to the Catalan bank, seen by the Olive Press.
“At no time was I advised verbally that the policy would cease when I had my 70th birthday,” he explained this week.
According to Rogers, the couple’s 2016 mortgage for their home in Alfoquia, Almeria, was ‘only approved’ on the understanding they also took out life insurance.
“This is common for many expats buying property in Spain,” he added.
As the couple did not speak much Spanish at the time, they relied on a ‘friendly’ bank employee to translate the paperwork.
Rogers believes he and Linda, who died from Alzheimer’s, were ‘tricked’ into signing up for a policy that expired in 2023.
“My understanding was we could use the policy to clear the mortgage if one of us died,” he explained.
“My main concern was that Linda would be financially stable if I passed first,” Rogers added.
Despite trying to negotiate a settlement with the bank, he has been unsuccessful.
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“They have been so dismissive,” added the investigator.
“The facts are, had I died first, Linda would not have been able to pay the mortgage and likely ended up homeless,” he concluded.
“The bank came close to causing an absolute disaster.”
Rogers, who still lives in the couple’s three-bedroom Spanish home, has now launched legal action after being advised he has grounds to sue.
Spanish law states that banks cannot force customers to take out a specific life insurance policy as a condition of granting a mortgage, although they may offer incentives for doing so.
CaixaBank was contacted for comment.
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