Bank of Ireland BoI didn't offer me a tracker when they should have.

O.k this could get a bit long winded but here goes.
Got a letter from the bank on friday stating that after a review of our mortgage account an error was made( bank inititiated this review , we knew nothing about it).

Apparently when we came off our fixed rate in dec 2009(fixed for 3 years) we should have reverted to a tracker. .but we actually ended up on the standard variable rate which was a good bit higher.Not sure but the tracker rate would have worked out at 1.95%)

I remember at the time when the fixed period ended thinking we should be on the tracker but assumed what the bank were telling us was correct.

We spent 4 months on the standard variable rate from Jan 2010 until April 2010 then fixed for 2 years as there were some good deals and compared to the standard variable rate it was the right decision as we are now fixed lower than the standard variable rate.

The good news is the bank has now told us that from jan 2010 till april 2010 we are being credited to our mortgage account based on the fact we should have been on the tracker. Also when our current fixed contract ends we will revert to The tracker rate .
Judging by the amount credited to our account we were overpaying interest by about €200 monthly. And now that we are fixed we are payin about €240 over what the tracker rate would be costing.

I'm sure this in itself is pretty good that the bank made an error and are now rectifying it.

The bank has stated do not hesitate to contact them if we have any queries or complaints and that we also have the right to contact the financial ombudsman.

The crux of the matter is I know that if I had of been on the tracker rate from jan 2010 we would not have fixed in April '10.
So due to the banks error we made a decision based on it.This is costing quite a lot more than the tracker rate would be at the moment and also the past 12 months.

Is it worth pursuing this , or should we just be thankful that we're getting the tracker rate after the fixed rate?

I'm going to give them a ring on tuesday and see what happens.
anyway Sorry about the length.Appreciate you taking the time to read.
Any opinions?

I think I would be asking them to backdate all interest charged to date of error and then charge it at the tracker rate as you would never have fixed if you had been on it.

It should be as though the fixing for 2 yrs never happened. Furthermore if it is ok with you to credit the mortgage with that amount then grand but if you have other more expensive debt such as credit cards outstanding then I would ask them for the overcharging to be refunded to you directly. If they had not made the mistake you would have had the use of that money to do with as you chose which is not necessarily pay it off the mortgage. I am not advocating you go on a holiday with it but it might be put to better use paying off higher rate debt if you have any.

I presume it was ICS as a similar issue is being discussed in this thread?

You have fixed for two years from April 2010 to April 2012 at 3.15%. Had you been offered a tracker, you would have been on 1.95% up to now and you would be on 2.2% at present. It's unlikely that you would have reached 3.15% by April 2012.

So the correct decision for the lender is to revert you to a tracker rate and ignore the fixed.

I doubt you will need the Ombudsman. Just explain the situation and I am sure that they will implement it. Do report back when you get their response.

Brendan

Thanks for the responses everyone. You've pretty much validated what I'm thinking. I'm going to look for us to be put back to the tracker rate from april 2010 and for the money to be paid directly to us and then we can decide what needs paying off first if we get it.

I estimate it has roughly cost us €3200 since april 2010 til april 2011 + the €800 already credited back to the mortgage + would cost a further €3000 from april 2011 till april 2012 depending on ECB rises. Not an inconsiderable amount and it's definitely worth pursuing.

Here's hoping!


It's with Bank of Ireland mortgages(as far as I know ICS is a part of BOI group).

I wonder whats prompted ICS to initiate this?

Any dealings I had with them in relation to tracker mortgages found them deeply entrenched refusing to return my mortgages to a tracker despite having a written guarantee that I would revert to tracker at the end of a fixed period (they eventually relented on that one) however I have had to go to the Ombudsman for the other.

Something has lit a fire under them,I wonder what it is?

I am the guy who started the other thread about the ICS.

I am waiting to see how much they refund me, I am also thinking about if people are entitled to compensation for such banking errors?? At first I was just delighted to be back on the tracker but now I am more annoyed that I have had to struggle more than necessary due to a banking error!

Occasionally, the Financial Ombudsman orders very small compensation for "maladministration". You could ask your bank for such compensation and complain to the Ombudsman if you don't get it.

Brendan

Hi Guys, I got the exact same letter as the Op but my circumstances are different. They are now offering me a tracker of 1.25%, so I am wondering why the Op was offered a tracker of 0.95.

I came off my fixed rate on the 17/07/2009.

It depends on what rate was in your original contract.

just an update on what has happened so far. I'm not a whole lot further on.

Rang BoI mortgages and discussed my account with someone and she was willing to organise to get me onto the tracker now(instead of waiting to for this fixed period to expire) but I got cut off before i got it organised.

Rang back later and got talking to someone else who seemed to have a very different stance that BoI were offering me the tracker and it was a one time only offer bla bla. but she didn't really seem to have a grasp of my own situation as apparently a lot of people have gotten similar letters.

Apparently this all stems from removing the tracker product from the market in 2009 and it didn't matter if it was in your contract after a fixed term that you were to go on it, you weren't getting it but after a review with the central bank it was decided to offer the tracker to these customers who were hard done by at the time.

Also it turns out that the €800 credited to my account was infact for the period Jan 10 till april 11.(i thought it was jan 10 -april '10)Now going by some rough calculations myself I cant understand where they got this figure from.They're figure is a lot less than mine, for the period jan'10 - april '11.

So i got a bit fed up with the phone calls and decided to see if I can deal with my local branch and actually see what the story is face to face( I've also found the local branches to be much easier and obliging to deal with in the past).Have a meeting on next week with the mortgage advisor and will take it from there.

Will let you know how i get on,
thanks

Hi J

Make sure to follow up with a letter immediately after the meeting summarising the case you are making and ask for a formal written response, showing how they do their calculation.

It is likely that the Ombudsman ruled on a few such cases and then referred it to the Financial Regulator.
The FR told them to do this review.
If you are not happy and you have a written record of correspondence, send it to the FR to suggest that they intervene in the process used by the Bank.

Brendan

Hi I am in the same boat more or less as the OP.

Apologies for the length of this post but there is no short way to put it ...

I signed up to this forum so i could give my input.

I received that same letter stating following a review from the Central Bank I would be entitled to a tracker at the end of our current term.

I like the previous poster was not offered the tracker on expirary of our preivous fixed term, jan 2010 and based on the options the sent in their Mortgage Offer Letter decided to Fix 2/3rds of mortgage for 3 years at 3.6% and 1/3 for 5 years at 4.1%. ( Hedge My Bets )

The letter only refers to the portion of the mortgage fixed for 3 Years. I assume i will be hearing the same for the other account.

I called in relation to this letter and was told i was actually eligible to switch to a tracker now. At today’s rates apparently their is no penalty. I have requested them to send me the new Offer Letter.

I will also be pursuing the bank for a refund.

I made a query to BOI customer service regarding this on Tuesday. They got back to me today. They said "I was not at present entitled to a refenund. However BAI mortages will be reviewing this decision and may Change thier current stance".

This sounds like a positive response to me.

I was requested to reply to them in Writing outlining the background to my case and my grounds for a refund.

In the meantime I intend to take up the offer on the tracker offer of 1.1 above the ECB 1.25 = 2.35%. My 3 year term is due to expire January 2013 and I wonder if I will be better off on the tracker with all the indications of the rate rises. Any thoughts?

To the, OP I would also advise to get your query in writing and Make sure you call it a complaint. It will then be dealt with through their complaints procedure and they will have to reply to you with a decision on the matter. (I could be corrected on this but I have a friend who works in this Area)

BOI forced to put customers back on Trackers

http://www.independent.ie/business/...o-put-customers-back-on-trackers-2639252.html

Charlie Weston gives credit where it is due

One customer explained on askaboutmoney.com that he had a tracker set at 0.95pc above the ECB rate. This means he was paying an interest rate of 1.95pc.

Click to expand...

jdire said:

The crux of the matter is I know that if I had of been on the tracker rate from jan 2010 we would not have fixed in April '10.
So due to the banks error we made a decision based on it.This is costing quite a lot more than the tracker rate would be at the moment and also the past 12 months.

Is it worth pursuing this , or should we just be thankful that we're getting the tracker rate after the fixed rate?

Click to expand...

You should only correspond in writing, and absolutely should be entitled to undo the fixed rate and have the recalculations done based on a tracker for the entire time.

You went onto an incorrect variable rate instead of a tracker due to their error and based on this you fixed for a second time. Your decision was based on the variable rate you were given. So the bank are going to have to look at the figures again.

Please do not trust the banks figures. Make sure they show you how they make the calculations, we had another poster on here recently who got compensated and when he asked for clarification the bank 'discovered' they had not done the calculations correctly. Amazingly enough this was in the banks favour and not the customers!

In addition I think you should be compensation for the distress, the mess and the financial loss of the money you ought to have had in your pocket during this time. Finally the money should be lodged to your personal account and not off your loan account so that you can do with it what you wish.

Also to add that the bank staff you are dealing with who don't all seem to be singing from the same hymn sheet should be better trained.

branners said:

I am the guy who started the other thread about the ICS.

I am waiting to see how much they refund me, I am also thinking about if people are entitled to compensation for such banking errors?? At first I was just delighted to be back on the tracker but now I am more annoyed that I have had to struggle more than necessary due to a banking error!

Click to expand...

I'll make mine quick and maybe you could give an opinion.

Mortgage with KBC @.95 tracker since 2004. Moved to 3 year fixed in 2006, withdrew from 3 year fixed in Oct 2008 without penalty as market rate was higher than fixed funds (until the following week), but was put onto standard variable when I expected to go back to tracker.

When queried, the bank pointed out the small print that states that after the fixed rate period ends, it moves onto the banks standard variable rate, but no other info, details of extra costs etc.

Do I have a case for returning to tracker?

I also have same issue with BOI I was put on variable in error in 09 but I fixed last June for 3 years so I want out now I am fixed at 3.95%..BOI yesterday told me if I wish to come out of fixed I need to pay penalty..my point to them was that they have recognised their error of putting me on variable in 09 by refund in intererst(which I have requested to my a/c, they just deducted it off my balance) and had I been on Tracker as I now know I should have been I would never have fixed..Some 'team' in the bank is dealing with this issue and they haven't reached a decision as of yet and due to volume of people involved response may take up to 10 working days!!!
Also they were unsure if they would be able to provide accurate calculation of what i should have paid on the tracker in comparison to what I did on variable. It may be a rough estimate!!! Like hello these people are meant to work with numbers all the time surely it ain't that difficult.
I agree with OP that different people in Mortgages you talk to have different stories I had to request to speak to a Supervisor yesterday when a rep tried to fob me off with the line that BOI themselves instigated this review and that I should basically be grateful that the bank is willing to put me back on a Tracker in 2013 when my fixed rate up!!!
I would really appreciate if others could continue to post their experiences and how they getting on with the Bank as I think combined effort needed to overcome this and get back to where we should rightfully be on a Tracker!!

Like everyone I read the news today in the independent, although I did not receive a letter from ICS.

I rang ICS this morning and they said that I did not qualify to go back on the tracker like some of you have done.

I drew down a mortgage in 2008 on tracker for 1 year. Payments dropped by €600 per month over the course of 1 year.

In 2009 I was offered various fixed rates, variable, and a tracker. We chose fixed as we were unsure of what way the rates were going to go. The 2 year rate we fixed on as well still meant that we were paying €400 less then what we started off on, so we did not mind locking in

This term was up in July, and due to the ECB rate increase recently ICS were due to increase their fixed rates by a considerable amount.

Before they upped their rates I decided to break out of the term and signup to a new fixed term based on their rates in March. I am still saving €150 a month based on what we paid when we first drew down the mortgage, where as if I had of held off until July I would be paying more money then when we first drew down, so locking in again earlier this year seemed like the sensible choice

However the rates offered to me last month were various fixed rates, and the variable, no tracker.

I don't have any documents to hand and I'll go through them when I get home. I am usnure if they explained that if I decided not to go with the tracker in 2009, that the tracker would not be available to me in future

Because I decided to fix in 2009, does that mean I waived my right to go back on the tracker at the end of the 2 year term?

Val78 - I broke out of a fixed rate a month ago to avail of cheaper fixed rates before they went up. It cost €180 but this figure changes everyday.

What you need to look at is how much you are paying by the month on a fixed, and how much you would pay if you went to tracker now. If the difference per month is lets say €400 per month, and the fee is a one off €200, then breaking out of the fixed back to tracker and pay the one off fee seems like a good choice to me.

At the end of the day it's money in your pocket

I agree though they made the error you should not have to pay the fee

Check your initial loan offer that you recieved first day it will say under special conditions what your are entitled to. I found this after getting my letter on Fri..
I just rang Branch that I deal with suprise suprise the lady I spoke with who I know for years hadn't a clue what I was on about!!! Going to use the Branch Mortgage Officer to get on to Dublin also..
Have requested how much it will cost to break out of fixed, good point tubberclaire about how it worth it to break out of fixed if it costs less in long run.
to be continued....