Fines of a new type – Newspaper Kommersant No. 199 (7400) dated 10/26/2022

Sberbank refused to accept extended life and health insurance policies from a number of insurance companies from mortgage clients. At the same time, customers are forced to pay a penalty for the lack of insurance contracts. The bank explains this to the borrowers by the inconsistency of the policies with the new requirements of the Central Bank. According to lawyers, the responsibility in this situation really falls entirely on the shoulders of the client, who must check his policy. However, human rights activists believe that the bank had no reason to charge fines.

In October, Sberbank customers began to complain that the bank had stopped accepting extended life and health insurance policies for mortgages, even though the insurers were accredited. Messages about this appeared on the Banki.ru website. So, Sberbank does not accept insurance from AlfaStrakhovanie, Tinkoff Insurance, Renaissance Insurance, clients say. At the same time, borrowers have to pay a penalty for the lack of an insurance policy in the tens of thousands of rubles. Borrowers note that neither the insurer nor the bank warned them of any changes.

In response to customers, Sberbank explains that “the submitted life insurance documents cannot be accepted, since a policy was provided that does not meet the insurance conditions agreed between the bank and the insurance company,” and advises contacting the insurer.

Sberbank explained to Kommersant that in October the regulator’s requirements for life and health insurance when applying for loans changed. Insurers must bring their policies in line with the requirements of the Central Bank, while most companies did not manage to do this on time, the bank notes. The Central Bank did not respond to Kommersant’s request.

AlfaStrakhovanie says that all unaccepted policy forms will be automatically updated within a few days for re-uploading to DomClick. Other insurers whose clients have encountered problems do not comment on the situation.

Clients of other banks do not have such difficulties. Rosbank explains that they work with clients as usual, the processes for prolonging mortgage insurance policies have not been revised. VTB accepts all policies purchased from insurance companies accredited by the bank, the renewal processes are working normally, they assured. The bank “Dom.RF” noted that even if any inconsistencies of the insurance policy with the requirements of the bank, the client does not pay a penalty.

However, lawyers recognize that the actions of Sberbank are legal and the responsibility in this case lies with the client. According to Pen & Paper partner Sergey Uchitel, the presence of a company in the list of life and health insurance companies does not guarantee that the terms of the contract comply with the bank’s mandatory requirements, and the client needs to make sure of this before signing the document. Insurance in this case is the duty and responsibility of the borrower, and “it is he who must exercise due diligence when choosing an insurance company and processing all documents.” Otherwise, the bank may hold the borrower liable for late provision of the policy in the form of penalties and fines, the lawyer explains.

However, human rights activists do not agree with this position. Yevgenia Lazareva, project manager of the ONF “For the Rights of Borrowers”, believes that if the bank did not notify the consumer personally, did not fix in the contract or did not publish on the website the provisions according to which renewable policies of subsidiaries or accredited companies are not accepted, and did not specify the reasons why if they are not accepted, then the credit institution has no grounds for charging fines and penalties. Such situations fall under the category of property disputes, she says. The consumer needs to contact the claims officer of the bank itself, Ms. Lazareva explains. If he does not withdraw the fine, she clarifies, it is necessary to contact the financial commissioner and report the incident to the Internet reception of the Central Bank.

Julia Poslavskaya