What happens when you give up a loan you've already signed?
25/02/2025
You urgently need to replace that appliance, so you check and buy it with a consumer loan. But immediately after signing it, you have doubts about the convenience of financing it or if it responds to your needs and you want to return it. Very important: We have the right to cancel a loan agreement within the first 14 days, without the need to justify the decision and without penalty. This right allows you to calmly reassess whether you really need that credit and whether the conditions offered are right for you.
The first step, as usual, is to review the signed contract. This document should clearly specify the period available to exercise the right of withdrawal, in addition to including the instructions, who to contact and by what means to disassociate yourself from the loan.
The second step is to write to the financial institution. In the letter you must include all the identifying data (name, address, contract number, etc.), so that there is no doubt who the owner is and what the loan to which the withdrawal refers. Do not forget to explicitly explain your intention to withdraw from the contract.
It is important that you keep a copy of the letter and the proof of shipment, in case it is necessary to file a claim if it is not processed correctly.
The financial institution must inform you of the exact amount to be returned and the deadline for making the payment. From that moment, you have 30 days to return to the financial institution the total amount of the loan received, along with the interest accrued from the date of disposition of the loan until the date of repayment. The cost to the consumer can only be limited to interest for the period you have had the money in your account, without any penalty or other additional costs or commissions.
The right of withdrawal is contained in Law 16/2011 on consumer credit agreements and is an important consumer protection tool, which allows you to cancel a loan agreement within a certain period without penalties. Logically, it involves the repayment of the total amount of the loan and may involve certain administrative procedures, but it offers the consumer the opportunity to reconsider his decision and look for more favorable alternatives.
To learn more about the regulations that govern it, you can consult the application of the Banco de España EncuenTRA.Abre en ventana nueva
“Disclaimer: Please note that this is a translation of the original in Spanish that has been obtained using eTranslation (the machine translation tool provided by the European Commission), with the intention of giving you a basic idea of the content in English until a human translation becomes available. The Banco de España accepts no liability whatsoever in connection with this translation.”
