Key Post PTSB lost tracker; switched lender; returned to ptsb on tracker

Hi all, A final update on my issue re not getting a tracker reinstated.

As you may know,I had a tracker,then fixed for five years.Nearing the end of the five years,which was November 2010,I was given a list of options,none of the options were for a tracker.
I brought this to their attention,they told me they no longer offered trackers.
I argued that I was aware they no longer offered them,but I was still entitled to get mine back.There was a lot of tooing and froing,and in the end they told me I wasn't getting it.

This had been going on for months,and I was forced to switch lender as PTSB rates were shooting up and becoming unaffordable.

Forward on to around May 2011,and I get a call to say they had looked or been instructed to look again at the documents and found that I had been entitled to a tracker after all,they then offered to send me a cheque for the balance.I told them where to go..

I went to the FSO with my complaint,but continued to communicate with PTSB.
Fso informed me it could take 20 weeks for my case to be investigated,so I pressed on with PTSB.

My biggest worry was that I had switched lenders,but that being said,I felt I was forced too,and I most definitely wouldn't have if they had given me the correct option of a tracker.
They did accept I switched due to a fault on their part.

I returned to PTSB and have been refunded all the monies owed to me.
A couple of things I have learned from all this:
Do not take their word for it;
Do not give up:
Do not act on information given on a website that may lead you to think you are not entitled to something,go for it anyway.
You need to gather all your documentation and keep it safe,I scanned all documents into a folder on my laptop.
Keep records.
You need a lot of time and energy and fight in you.
I have written to the ombudsman explaining the outcome,and I have suggested that although we are delighted to get our tracker back,we got nothing more than we were entitled to ,and it cost us a lot in terms of time , energy and stress.I suggested to the FSO that people who have to go through over a year of overpayments,stress etc should be compensated (obviously we were not) but the suggestion has gone to the FSO,as it is unfair that a customer who has been wronged has to go through so much just to get what they were entitled too.
I hope any one who is in a similar position does ask for compensation for their time and efforts of having to go through all the work ..
I hope this will give some hope to those of you who are about to embark on this journey.

dara

That's a great story and well done for your perserverence. It is true that most people will just give up when told that they are not entitled to a tracker or "we no longer offer them". The purpose of this specific forum on trackers is to inform and motivate people and your post does both.

The FSO sometimes does award compensation for "maladministration" but it's usually only a few hunded euro.

Can I just clarify what rate your tracker is on now? And what was it when you fixed?

One issue that has arisen is that people have been told that they are entitled to trackers ok, but the rate is ECB + 3%. Of course, 4% is a lot better than 5.2% and vulnerable to further increases.

Hi Brendan and thanks for that.
My tracker rate is 1.10% above ECB
I cant recall what it was at the time I fixed,I would imagine that the ECB rates must have been quite high or increasing at the time,which would be the reason I fixed..
My contract specified that I was entitled to revert to a tracker after EVERY fixed rate..

Hi thedaras

I am confused by this on reading it again.

You switched from ptsb to another lender.
Did you switch back again to ptsb on a tracker?
Did ptsb agree to this or did the Ombudsman tell them to do it?

Brendan

Thedaras - did they also reimburse you for the costs involved in moving lender? I would imagine the costs involved in moving to another lender and then back were not trivial.