Following the recommendation of the Ombudsman and before the judicial rulings that have ruled against the decision of the Ministry of Public Works not to grant new aid for the loans for protected housing , nor to renew those that existed, the Government has had to rectify.

So finally the Executive will accept applications for renewal of subsidized loans for protected housing that were submitted until June of last year . This is admitted in response to the Deputy of the Plural Left (IU-ICV-CHA) Chesi Yuste, who in a parliamentary question criticized the decision of the Executive.

Promotion rectified after the recommendation of the Ombudsman and the contrary court judgments It is estimated that at least 300,000 families receive aid of between 1,100 and 1,300 euros per year to cover financial expenses of their mortgage. The subsidized loans are a State aid contemplated in the different housing plans that, prior agreement with the financial entities, discharged the payment of interest for the purchase or rehabilitation fee of the officially protected housing, provided that certain levels are met of maximum family income.

The Ombudsman had recommended that the Government review the interpretative criterion with which the Decree Law on Promoting Competitiveness was being applied, which in Article 35 stipulated that from July 15, 2012, subsidies for loan subsidies would be eliminated. included in the 2009-12 Housing Plan. The Ministry indicated in the interpretative criteria of the decree that it sent to the autonomous communities that had to deny the extensions of aid that were being collected regardless of the plan to which they belonged.

Subsequently, in June 2013, the Government approved the Rent Promotion Law, in which it insists on not admitting new acknowledgments of aid but it does maintain those that were already being received and those that were recognized before the decree law, as long as will be formalized in a maximum of two months.

Therefore, the Ombudsman asked the Executive to pay the aid pending between July 14, 2012 and June 4, 2013, and to give instructions to the autonomous communities to review ex officio all applications that had been denied between these dates.

The Executive rectifies

Although at first the Government assured that there would be no change in this regard, in the response to Yuste recognizes that "in the coming days" will send a letter to all the autonomous communities informing them of a "change of criteria in the interpretation" of the regulations and the steps to follow "in the different cases that have been generated".

Suppress subsidized loans already granted was contrary to the Constitution This decision is derived from the report that the Ministry requested the State Legal Service on "the provenance or not" of change in the application of the regulations as a result of the first judgments of the courts of Justice, contrary to Development . The first one took place in September 2013 in Castellón, where a court ruled that a woman sued the Administration for denying her the renewal of housing assistance by applying a different regulation to the one that existed when she was granted by first time.

In fact, that was also what the PSOE alleged in the appeal of unconstitutionality that in September of last year presented before the Constitutional Court (TC) against the Law of Promotion of Rent, arguing that suppress subsidized loans for purchase or rehabilitation of protected housing already granted in previous housing plans is contrary to the Magna Carta because of its retroactive effect.

In any case, in the new report requested from the State Legal Services, the General Counsel recognizes that "there are reasons that advise the revision of the change of criteria applied by the Ministry of Public Works". Before this report and the judicial rulings, the Government recognizes that the Ministry directed by Ana Pastor has "decided to adopt the change of criteria in said precept".

"It was unconstitutional"

The lawyer of the association Protected Housing Yes and representative of the Coordinator of Platforms of State Affected, Ángel de Sancha, welcomes the decision of Development although it was already expected, before the different judgments that are rejecting the possibility of refusing the renewal of aid to people who were granted with those requirements.

And it is that for those affected the decision of the Executive to cancel these aids "retroactively" is "unconstitutional" , as they have let Soledad Becerril and all their regional counterparts know. In fact, recalls De Sancha, Castilla y León and Extremadura -both governed by the PP- "have already officially revoked all denials."

In 2006, of about 27 million life insurance that could be charged, around 10% were not paid because they were not claimed, explained the vice president of the Association of Users of Banks, Savings and Insurance, Adicae, Fernando Herrero .

“There are many life insurance that are granted along with credit cards or with different financial products (deposits, stocks, mortgages, etc.), therefore the consumer does not pay attention to these policies that are then forgotten. “, affirmed Herrero.

In cases where the insurance is not claimed, the financial institutions do not pay the money to the beneficiary, even though the monthly premiums have been charged in advance. This procedure is legal, since the bank or insurer only had the duty to inform when the contract was signed.

Registration of policies

To solve this situation, from today anyone can know instantly if you are a beneficiary of life insurance. Thus, after 15 days from the death of a family there is the possibility of going to check the Registry (after payment of 3.3 euros) if the deceased had contracted some life insurance.

The Registry of Death Coverage Insurance Contracts has already accounted for more than 50 million policies with data that have been provided by 201 insurance companies, according to sources from the Ministry of Justice. The registry will be very useful, according to Justice, the employers of UNESPA insurers and consumer associations like Adicae.

Right to know

For this initiative to be effective, “citizens must know both their existence and the procedures,” said the Vice President of Adicae, Fernando Herrero.

The Ministry of Justice has already developed an information campaign through the Internet, posters and triptychs with the motto. Your right is to know what is yours.

But in Adicae they ask for more publicity and that they rely on user organizations, “which are those that are close to the consumer”.

They also request improvements for the registry: “that the data can be consulted at any time of the user’s life and not only when the death occurs,” said Herrero.

25,000 economic solutions

Every year, death insurance resolves 25,000 situations committed to Spanish families after the death of a family beneficiary of this coverage, according to data from the Social Report of the Spanish Insurance 2006. This report also extracts data such as that 66% of the Spanish households have life insurance and that the largest number of insured is between 25 and 34 years old and their policies are linked, to a large extent, to the need to protect the mortgage payment in case of death.

5 questions to …

Pilar Blanco- Morales, Director of Records

1 Why does the need arise to create a policy record?

Many people were unaware that their deceased relative had taken out life insurance and was not paid.

2 How will the list be updated?

Banks and insurers have to register all policies. We have had the collaboration of these entities, so no system of sanctions has been put in place for those who do not record the new insurance.

3 What are the procedures to make the request?

The form 790 can request it from tomorrow (for today), after 15 days from the death of the insured, any person that attaches the literal certificate of death and pays the fee of 3.3 euros in a bank or cashier.

4Where should you go?

The documents must be delivered – personally or by mail – in the General Register of Last Will Acts (Jacinto Benavente Square, 3 Madrid) or in the 22 Territorial Management Offices of the Ministry of Justice. The delivery of the certificate will be done on the spot if requested in person, and in seven days if requested by mail.

5 Are there expiration times?

The data of this record will be kept for 5 years from the date of death of the insured, so that the certificate can not be requested once this period has expired.

More information here .