When your bank pushes insurance, funds or other products

Key rules

• Tied sales: A bank generally cannot make you buy an unrelated product to get the one you want.
• Home insurance: On a mortgage, you can use any insurer that offers equivalent cover.
• Life insurance: A bank cannot require it for a mortgage, but may discount your rate if you take it voluntarily.
• Investments: A bank must check a product suits you or that you understand it before selling it.
• Cancelling: Send written notice you can prove before the period ends: generally 14 days, or 30 days for life insurance.

Banks can offer bundles, but cannot force unrelated products

A bank may offer a discount if you take extra products. It generally cannot make you buy a product you did not ask for as a condition of getting the one you want. The difference matters:

• Tied sale (venta vinculada): you can only get product A if you also buy product B, and B is not sold separately. This is generally prohibited for consumers.
• Bundle (venta combinada): the products are also sold separately, and the joint offer is usually cheaper. This is allowed.

Whether a particular offer is tied or bundled depends on the contract. If you are unsure, ask the bank in writing: "Can I get this product without the other one, and at what price?"

Mortgages: what the bank can and cannot require

These rules apply to mortgages signed after June 2019.

• Home insurance: the bank may require it, but it cannot force you to use its own insurer. You can use any insurer if the policy gives equivalent cover, and the bank must accept it without worsening your loan terms.
• Life insurance: the bank cannot require it as a general condition. It may offer a lower interest rate if you take it voluntarily.
• Payment account: the bank may require one, with limited exceptions.

Discounts (bonificaciones)

A discount, or bonificación, usually depends on conditions: a payroll deposit, insurance, a card used a certain number of times. The bank must tell you the conditions in advance and in plain terms. It must also show what meeting them costs and the price without the discount. For a mortgage this appears in the pre-contract information; for accounts and cards, in the fee information. If you meet the conditions, the bank must give the discount.

Before you agree, add up the cost of the extra products and compare it with the saving. A discount is not a bargain if the insurance costs more than it saves.

Investments and funds

Banks often suggest funds or other investments. The rules protect you here:

• If the bank advises you, it must check the product suits you.
• If it sells a complex product without advice, it must check you understand it.
• It must treat you as a retail client, explain costs and risks clearly, and keep a record of its assessment.

Courts have cancelled sales that were mis-sold, as in the preference shares cases. If you think a product was sold to you wrongly, complain first to the bank's customer service. If that fails, go to the securities regulator's complaints service, or to the Banco de España for banking matters.

Cancelling something you did not want

Cancellation periods depend on the product:

• Distance financial contracts and consumer credit: generally 14 days, without penalty.
• Life insurance: 30 days from the start of cover.
• Non-life insurance sold at a distance: generally 14 days.
• Pension plans and some investments: shorter or different rules, so check the contract.
• Mortgages: no general cooling-off right. A notary and a minimum waiting period apply instead.

To cancel, send written notice to the provider before the period ends, in a way you can prove. Repay any amounts already used. The timeline, documents and warnings below set out the steps.

If the bank refuses a discount it promised, complain to the bank first. After that you can go to the Banco de España or your regional consumer authority.

Timeline and deadlines

• Withdraw from a distance financial services contract or consumer credit without penalty: within 14 days

• Withdraw from a non-life insurance policy sold at a distance: within 14 days

• Withdraw from a life insurance policy: within 30 days of the start of cover

• Send written cancellation notice to the provider and repay any amounts used: before the withdrawal period ends

Documents you need

• Pre-contract information document for a mortgage, which sets out the conditions of any discount, the cost of meeting them and the price without the discount. The bank must give it to you in advance.

• Fee information document from the bank, showing the conditions for any fee discount (bonificación). Ask for it before you accept a bundle.

• Written cancellation notice to the provider, sent in a way you can prove (a durable medium), before the withdrawal period ends. Only needed if you want to cancel a product.

What to watch out for

• Investment sold without a proper check: A bank must assess whether an investment suits you, record that assessment and explain costs and risks clearly. If it skips this, you may be sold something that does not fit you. Ask for the costs and risks in writing and keep a copy. If you were mis-sold, complain to the bank's customer service, then to the CNMV, the investment regulator. Courts can cancel mis-sold products.

• Missing the window to cancel: Cancellation periods are short: 14 days for most distance contracts and consumer credit, 30 days for life insurance. After that you may lose the right to withdraw without penalty. Note the start date, then send written notice to the provider before the period ends and repay any amounts used.

• No cooling-off right on a mortgage: Mortgages do not have a general right to withdraw after signing, so you cannot undo an add-on tied into the deal later. Decide on every extra product before you sign, and use the waiting period before the notary to review them.

Frequently asked questions

Can my bank make me take home insurance with its own insurer?

No, a bank can require home insurance on a mortgage, but it cannot force you to use its own insurer. You can use any insurer whose policy gives equivalent cover, and the bank must accept it without worsening your loan terms. This applies to loans signed after June 2019.

Can a bank require life insurance to give me a mortgage?

No, a bank cannot make life insurance a general condition of a mortgage. It can offer a lower interest rate if you take life insurance voluntarily, so compare the saving with the premium before you say yes.

What can I do if the bank does not give me the discount I was promised?

If you meet the conditions, the bank must give you the discount (bonificación) it promised. The conditions, the cost of meeting them and the price without the discount must be shown in your pre-contract documents. If it refuses, complain first to the bank's customer service, then to the Banco de España.

Where do I complain if the bank sold me an unsuitable investment?

Complain first to the bank's customer service, then to the CNMV, the investment regulator, or to the Banco de España for banking matters.