If you are one of the many affected by the abusive IRPH clause of the Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, this is the ideal moment to obtain the refund of IRPH interest.
The latest news from the TJUE is very positive for consumers, both the opinion of the Commission and the conclusions of the Advocate General determine that IRPH is abusive and therefore, IRPH can be claimed.
BBVA is one of the financial institutions with the highest number of mortgage loans affected by IRPH, we are experts in bank claims and we know everything you need to recover your money.
Index
El IRPH, or Mortgage Loan Reference Index, is an official indicator published by the Bank of Spain that BBVA used as a reference index in many mortgage loans with variable interest rates..
It is the second most used index in mortgages in Spain, only behind the Euribor. It is estimated that there are more than 1.3 million loans referred to the IRPH in Spain.
Both rates are used by financial institutions in a similar way. They are used as a reference to establish the interest rate applicable to variable rate mortgage loans.
However, Euribor and IRPH are very different. . For starters, their calculation methods are different. The IRPH is calculated according to the average interest rate at which banks lend to purchase a property,, while the el Euribor uses the average interest rate at which European banks lend money to each other..
However, the most important difference for the consumer is that, since its existence, the IRPH has been more expensive than the Euribor.. So that you have an idea, in a mortgage of 180,000€ in 2006 to be paid in 20 years at a variable interest rate of reference index + 0.25%, that the reference index is the IRPH instead of the Euribor implies an additional cost of more than 20,000€.
The IRPH value is published monthly around the 20th of each month by Banco de España, and is included in the BOE.
As already mentioned, the IRPH is "the average rate of mortgage loans over 3 years, for the acquisition of free housing, granted by credit institutions in Spain". Thus, the IRPH is calculated according to these data, applying a simple mathematical formula.
We know that the IRPH is calculated by applying a formula that uses the average interest rates of banks and savings banks. This apparently objective method of calculation is not so objective. The reason is that those interest rates used in the calculation are the APRs of the mortgages of those entities.
Here is the trick: the APR includes, in addition to the reference index and the differential (that 0.25% that we saw in the previous example), the commissions and operating expenses of a bank product. And the banks are the ones that control this item.
Because of this, if the banks raise their commissions and costs for operating expenses, the IRPH also rises.. This, among other reasons, such as atypical values or the fact that the average is not weighted, contributes to the fact that IRPH is almost always above the Euribor, since it includes the fees and expenses charged by banks, which depend exclusively on them.
Checking your mortgage deed. It will contain a clause that reflects the method used to determine the interest rate applicable to your mortgage. That's where you can check whether or not you have IRPH.
If you don't have it at hand, you can get an idea by thinking about the following. To begin with, ask yourself if your mortgage is a fixed rate or a variable rate. Fixed-rate mortgages do not have IRPH because, as the name suggests, the interest rate of a fixed-rate mortgage does not vary, reference indexes such as Euribor or IRPH are not used.
If your mortgage is at a variable rate, it may or may not have (referenced to another index, such as Euribor). Normally, it is called IRPH BANKS or IRPH ENTITIES. If over the last few years your mortgage payment has not fallen significantly, it is likely that you have IRPH or the famous floor clause.
Basically making you pay more than you would have paid if you had taken out your mortgage with Euribor. For example, it is calculated that, as an approximate, those to whom the IRPH has been applied pay around 900€ more per year than they would have paid if they had referenced their mortgage to Euribor.
Yes, you can claim BBVA's IRPH.. The reason is that, as with the floor clause, the banks did not explain to the consumer the real economic consequences of using this type of index as a reference in the mortgage loan. Therefore, not exceeding the so-called transparency control, this index should be declared abusive and therefore null.
When claiming the IRPH you will request the nullity for abuse of the clause that determines this index as the reference index to calculate the interest rate of your mortgage loan. If the bank envisaged a substitute index, such as Euribor or a fixed rate, this will apply. If a substitute index was not determined, or the substitute index is also zero (for example, the substitute index is also IRPH), you can claim that your loan becomes a free loan, i.e. without interest..
In any case, you will have to recalculate the entire amortization table of the loan. As a consequence, you will be able to recover those amounts that you have already paid the most up to now and reduce the interest rate to be applied during the remainder of the life of the loan, which will result in the payment of lower mortgage instalments.
If your mortgage is referenced to IRPH, you will most likely be able to claim and recover your money. To make sure your case is viable, just fill out this short form and attach the deed to your mortgage loan. Our legal team will study your case in detail and inform you whether or not you can claim for free.
If you are successful in your claim for IRPH, you will get this rate to stop applying to your loan. As a consequence:
In addition, in both cases you will recover the money already paid in excess for the application of this index.
As we mentioned before, to start your claim all you have to do is complete this brief form and attach the deed to your mortgage loan. Our legal team will study your case and inform you about its viability free of charge.
Once we confirm that your case is viable, the first step is to try to reach an out-of-court settlement with the bank and warn them that if they do not offer a satisfactory solution we will take legal action.
This is mostly a formality, as it is very rare for the bank to choose to settle. Even so, it is a necessary and preliminary step to the lawsuit.