# EBS reducing my BTL rate from 4.8% to 1.5%!



## LARD1 (20 Aug 2016)

Took out a BTL mortgage in 2004 with EBS .I cant remember at the time what my repayment options were ie tracker,variable rate etc. I think I was just happy to get the loan and hop on the Celtic tiger train . As the years went by I struggled to pay ,and I had a few years on interest only and built up arrears of 15,000 . They wanted me to sell two years ago as the mortgage was unsustainable and in negative equity but somehow I managed to get back on track and have been paying capital and interest since but still have the 15K arrears. 
Yesterday I received a letter stating that my mortgage had the option of switching to a tracker rate which I never got . I had no clue about this .I have been told  now that my repayments are going down by 320.00 pm and I have been put on the tracker rate  of 1.5% from a variable rate of 4.8 % and that I am due a refund and compensation . How happy am I ! I am to receive a letter in November outlining how much I am due .
Anyone have any idea what this amount is ?


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## Sunshine2015 (21 Aug 2016)

I received a similiar letter it seems this error only came about on a audit I have to wait for their full report


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## Brendan Burgess (22 Aug 2016)

LARD1 said:


> Anyone have any idea what this amount is ?



Hi Lard 

Very hard to know what the amount might be without knowing the circumstances. 
1) How much was your initial mortgage? 
2) I presume you fixed? When did the fixed rate end? 

This is only a stab in the dark.  But let's assume you fixed in 2006 for three years. In 2009, they should have offered you a tracker rate of ECB +1.5% but didn't. 

EBS didn't really push up SVR rates for a few years - so the difference between SVRs and trackers didn't amount to much until around 2012.  The gap now is around 3%. 

So let's say, you have been overcharged by around 3% a year for 4 years. ( It could be a lot more or less.) 
That is 12% in total. 
If your mortgage is €200,000, then you have been overcharged in the order of €24,000. 

Your arrears will probably disappear. 
You will then get either a refund of overpayments, or they will adjust your balance to where it would have been had they charged you the correct rate. 

You will also get about 10% of the overcharge in compensation, but you could claim more if the incorrect arrears caused you other financial losses e.g. overdraft interest or credit card interest or a bad ICB record. 

Brendan


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## LARD1 (25 Aug 2016)

Thanks for the information Brendan.


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## Sunshine2015 (15 Sep 2016)

I have reviewd my contract and I should have been on a BTL tracker +1.5 since 2008 Ebs are due to come back to me In November but I want to work out my figures - where would I get a list of previous tracker rates going back over the years


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## Brendan Burgess (19 Sep 2016)

Sunshine2015 said:


> where would I get a list of previous tracker rates going back over the years



Not sure what you mean by "previous tracker rates" 

All you need to know is the ECB rate which you will find here


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