ICS put me on SVR but Offer Letter has price promise (ECB +1.1%)

Hi,

In the past two weeks I've discovered that I have been overcharged c. €29 k interest by ICS on my mortgage. Brief history:

-mortgage drew down early 2006
-accepted 3 year fixed rate of 3.8% in mid 2006
-put on SVR of 4.7% in 2009 when fixed rate matured
-SVR reduced to 4.55 % when I queried it but no lower
-Offered fixed rates in late 2009 and decided to accept 3.6% for 3 years ( saving of 0.9%
-On maturity of fixed rate put back on SVR of 4.55%

I called ICS and requested a copy of offer letter. When it arrived I noticed (to my surprise) that special condition 11 vi stated that variable rate should never exceed 1.1% of repo rate (ECB rate) " for the term of the Loan". I called ICS to query. First two customer service reps were of little help ( one told me to write a complaint if I wished, second told me to go to BOI branch then hung up). I called back a 3rd time and lady was very helpful. She explained everything and confirmed I should have been offered a tracker rate in 2009 on maturity of 1st fixed rate. She requested that I send in a written request for a " full investigation".

I have letter ready to send to ICS to request interest rate adjustment from 2009. Has anyone had a recent experience with a similar case? Two questions:

1. Who is the best person to deal with in ICS?
2. Has anyone secured a full refund plus compensatory interest for the period ICS retained their money?

Thanks in advance,

A scrambled Egg

Hi Scrambled Egg

Not sure who the best person is to speak to.

Did you get the name of very helpful lady who told you that you should have been offered the tracker rate. While she may have been friendly, I am not sure that she was helpful. She should have initiated the correction herself.

1) Tell them to put you on the correct tracker rate immediately
2) Tell them that you want to be put on the tracker rate from mid 2009.
3) That you want a cheque for the overcharge. They may well say "We overcharged you by €10,000 and we have reduced your balance accordingly". This is not acceptable. They must give you the refund.
4) If you have had higher rate borrowings elsewhere or if the much higher payments have caused you distress, you might claim for that as well. I don't think you will succeed, but claim it anyway.
5) If you have missed repayments and had your credit record damaged, then you will have further complaints to make
6) In your letter, you should outline the calls you have made and the lack of help from ICS. (This might be useful if you have to go to the Ombudsman, which I don't think you will)

Then wait and see how they respond.

They will probably tell you that you chose a fixed rate from 2009 to 2012 and so they won't be giving you a refund for that period. If they do that, let us know and we should be able to find an Ombudsman's ruling on that issue.

When you get sorted, please make sure to post an update here. I think you should consider raising the issue with the Central Bank, as this is probably a systemic mistake and ICS should have picked this up themselves. But don't do this until you get sorted.

Brendan

ScrambledEgg. You have got very good advice from Brendan here. If you are not very good at all that you may have to go through yet with ICS it might be advisable to employ an Independent financial advisor to argue your case. You have established that ICS have a case to answer but to cover all the points that Brendan has raised would probably need someone who is familiar with dealing with Banks. PadKiss who is a frequent poster on this forum has apparently a good deal of experience in dealing with financial institutions. I am sure there are others on here as well. You may well know someone yourself. There will be a fee involved but you can sort out that initially but it could be worth it. ICS are not always easy to deal with.

I was in a very similar position to you (ICS),read this thread from start to finish I posted my experiences from start to finish,you don't need to pay anyone,its within your ability to sort this out,your first post is your first step.

You are entitled to a return of your tracker,best of luck with it mate.

http://www.askaboutmoney.com/showthread.php?t=128549

Agree that you do not need to pay a professional advisor at this stage.

This should be a relatively straightforward claim.

If they refuse and you need to go to the Ombudsman, then it probably is worth paying for advice to maximise your chances of success.

Thanks all for your replies, very helpful.

I'm happy to run with this myself for the moment.

At the end of the day the contract is clear and should be inforceable. I intend to take whatever steps required to have it applied correctly by ICS.

I will keep you posted on the response received.

Regards,

A Scrambled Egg