Ulster Bank made a MISTAKE with my Mortgage

Hi guys,

Ulster bank made a mistake with my mortgage - they kept it interest only long after the interest only period expired, basically I should have been paying interest & capital for the past 2 years.

Before this happened I requested they leave it on interest only & presumed they had - that it wasn't a mistake. Now I'm abroad in Australia looking for work & having audited & realised their mistake - they've hit with with a bill for 10,600 EUR, right before Christmas!

Sure you know what Bankers are like; They've given me 4 options for paying it, a lump sum up front (not likely), an extra 50 EUR a month for the term of the mortgage, or 2 options that would involve changing the conditions of the mortgage. The last isn't an option as its tracker & I want to keep it that way.

I intend to pay the outstanding amount - of course nothing is free & fair is fair. However I'd like to pay it under my terms at a time & rate that best suits me. I don't think its fair to shoulder a huge financial burden because of their mistake? I would rather pay it at the end of the term when times are good & money is plenty

To top it off they've given me a relatively short deadline to respond. It'll be a blue Christmas for sure this year but not for the fat cat bonus taking banker who sent that awful letter.

-Does anyone know of any legalities I can use to gain leverage here?
-Any online forums or institutions that can offer financial advice?
-Any help at all is appreciated.

Yours truely,

R V

A higher repayment per month is the only practical option to pay off the loan in the same original term, if you can afford it that is probably the best solution. If not can the loan term be extended? I have to say I have never heard of a bank looking for the lump sum back because of being on interest only too long, normally it would just result in a higher repayment for the remaining term. Are you in negative equity? Perhaps they are hoping you will have the lump sum and so reduce their exposure.

I understand your pain of being hit with a 10K bill.
I also think the bank provided you a good range of option:
- Pay upfront
- Pay €50 extra a month
- Change runtime of mortgage
Yes they made a mistake (more on this later) - and they are trying to accomodate with various options.
You might want to check if you get some wiggle room on the (I guess "additional") interest payments for the 10.000 euro - which over 20 years and an average interest arate of 5% would amount to around 6.5K or so (or 25 euro a month)
Apart from that, I do not quite understand what "leverage" you are trying to gain here?

If you take the 10,600 Euro underpayment over 2 years it means that your mortgage repayments where short 441 euro per month. Looks like an oversight on your side as well that you did not realize that your payments did not go up by such an amount at the end if the interest only period.

I'd get clarification on the interest on the "underpayment" and try to get some deal for this portion.

Find out what the implications are in terms of interest on the extra 10000. If you repay at €50 per month, how much will you wind up paying in total?

A similar thing happened to us last year after we paid a lump sum off our mortgage. Ulster Bank stopped taking all repayments out altogether. In the vain hope that just maybe UB had written off the remainder (there had been some wild rumours about this being done), we waited until the annual statement arrived. However, the balance was still there, so we contacted them and ended up repaying what we owed (but no extra interest). Luckily we hadn't spent the money. We also made them write us a letter saying that it was entirely their fault - so that our credit rating wouldn't be affected.

newirishman said:

I also think the bank provided you a good range of option:
- Pay upfront
- Pay €50 extra a month
- Change runtime of mortgage

Click to expand...

I don't think they offered this - and this is the one the OP seems to want - to add the repayments on at the end - ie pay whatever the standard monthly repayments should be but for e.g. 24 years instead of 21. I certainly think that's something the OP could/should push for and it is strange that the bank didn't offer it as an option when it was their mistake.

RV, Pull out your original Mortgage Documentation and run through it with a fine tooth come. I also have a UB Tracker mortgage and im stuck living in a town I dont wanna live in because the terms and conditions of my mortgage specifically states that if where i reside is not my principle residence ie my home they have the right to take the tracker off u and put u on a very expensive variable!!" Check it out and be very careful what you say to them, do not mention Auistralia whatever you do or you can bet theyll be sending you a bill for at least double what they want from u now!

Good luck!