CASE STUDY – Accidents in Private Home in Spain

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We recently had this enquiry, which may be of interest to others.

Good Evening,Can you advise me as to where I would stand as a home owner in both UK and Spain if there were to be a Accident at my Spanish home whilst it was being used ,if I was liable for the accident although I have Public Liability Insurance under my home insurance. Could my UK Asset be at risk?

Also, where would I find the Spanish Laws Regulations for use of a private Swimming Pool at my property. For example do I need to provide Safety Equipment for guests?

This was our answer:

Firstly, this is all hypothetical but we assume if there was an accident and the victim wanted to claim then they would firstly do it against your insurer and then your insurer would pay or maybe they would try to claim against you if they thought in some way it was your fault. A Court case would take maybe 2-3 years and even if you lost, and had to pay a sum (highly unlikely) then first of all it would be claimed in Spain, and if not paid, embargoes would eventually (a lot more time) go against the Spanish bank account, any car, and then your Spanish house. But this is what insurance is for.

The last resort would have to be, if you had nothing in Spain (which you do) that the Insurance company try to get a Spanish Judgement recognised in a UK Court (4 years minimum in our experience) and then more time to try to embargo UK assets. It really is nothing to worry about.

There are very few regulations at the moment in Spain. None for safety equipment, fencing etc. The law is Real Decreto 742/2013, de 27 de septiembre. RCL 2013\1485 but that more says if there was a problem with say toxic chemical spillage or something else major it should be communicated to the authorities.

We should reiterate that it is important to always have buildings insurance for a property and preferably contents insurance also (as even kitchen and bathroom fittings come under personal contents not buildings in Spain).

Looking for a solution?

Feel free to get in touch with any enquiries and one of our friendly members of staff will get back to you as soon as possible.

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