Talk Quesada forum

Hi guys,

We've just been looking at the fees we need to pay associated with a purchase and we noticed one that is a Bankers Draft Commission at 800 euros (estimated). That sounds like a huge amount of cash to me for what is essentially a transfer of cash to the vendor's account.

Am I just being a skinflint or is that a huge amount of cash to have to pay?

Thanks.

I got caught out by this at the last moment before purchase and had to suck it up. Cost me over €1k to write a cheque. Absolutely crazy that 1) payment is still made that way and not electronically and 2) that to draft a cheque should be a percentage of the sum rather than a fixed charge.

Part of my advice for those wishing to buy in Spain is to find an account that charges the lowest percentage for the bankers draft for purchase. You can always close that account after for another bank. I was with Santander who charged one of the higher % for a bankers draft. Caixa I think was the cheapest at that time but might have changed now.

Big con.

Pay the money to your solicitor they will transfer it to the seller

jpeg wrote:Pay the money to your solicitor they will transfer it to the seller

Hi - I queries the bankers draft with the solicitor. Her response was that funds transferred electronically can take 2 days to clear therefore essentially we'd be paying first, with completion happening afterwards. She feels that this poses something of a risk and says that with a bank transfer, there is an exchange of the keys and the bankers draft at the same time, therefore mitigating risk.

Hmmm... 800 euros (estimated) just seems like a load of money to me, especially when the alternative would probably cost around 20 - 30 euros.

The normal bank charge for a bankers draft is a percentage of the amount of the bankers draft that are writing out.
Our solicitor helped us open our account and negotiated a low fee with the bank.
It was still around 300€ though

Lynn

Hi we managed to get the transfer free if we had their home insurance which was €350.00 so it was a no brainer!!

As per cheflady's comments.. for most banks, if you take their home insurance you can largely avoid the daylight robbery bank draft issue. Well done you on having done your homework and spotting this one. Many UK folk are caught out at the last minute and then the bank has you over a barrel and you are obliged to pay that ludicrous bank draft sum because you have realised too late. So least line of resistance is to take their insurance and dodge the bank draft bullet. You can always change the home insurance a year later... Of course, be sure you have an explicit conversation about this with whoever your bank person is, to be sure this works in your favour. Assume nothing...

Our solicitor was aware of this and advised us that though their account they could arrange the transaction without a fee. We paid the money to the solicitors account and they took care of everything.

Hi all,

Many thanks for your well considered advice and comments. I've managed to resolve the issue. There was a little to and fro between myself, our solicitor and the bank but the bank agreed that if we took their home insurance, that they would waive all of their fees associated with issuing the bankers draft. As their home insurance quote was cheaper (and more comprehensive) than another we had received, we agreed.

Again - many thanks all.