"For me, having title deeds insurance has saved me a great deal of money. When I purchased my house I realised that I was paying higher community expenses each month than I should have been. The participation rate for my house had been incorrectly calculated.

I left everything in the hands of the title insurance company. They accompanied me to the next meeting of the community in order to correct ther rate.

They achieved unanimous approval for the change and ended up saving everyone on the community money in the long term.

I don't think I would have been able to achieve the same result acting alone."

A. C. – Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Canary Islands)

Spanish law states that where there are common areas shared by property owners, an official community must be formed with at least annual meetings held to apportion running costs and agree on maintenance schedules.

In most cases, these communities are run by committee with each owner's annual costs determined by the size of his property.

You cannot avoid paying these costs and good lawyers should ensure that the community fees are paid and up-to-date prior to your purchase of the property.

There are often debates and quarrels over which parts of a community are designated as public or common areas and in particular, rights of access or thoroughfare.

This case shows us how easy it is to overpay these expenses especially if a property or development has been incorrectly measured in the first place.

If you suspected or indeed, could prove that you were overpaying, how easy do you think it would be to ensure a review of each property's participation coefficient and to ensure that all other community members were in agreement with your findings?