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IF A MORTGAGE customer misses a repayment on their loan, or doesn’t pay it in full, within 10 working days the bank gets in touch with the customer.
The first letter normally contains warnings about how their home is at risk if they do not keep up their mortgage repayments, but they’ll also get phone calls and texts until a payment is made, or the customer reaches an arrangement with the bank. The regulations surrounding how banks deal with customers in arrears are clear.
What happens when the bank gets it wrong?
What happens when the bank charges the customer the wrong amount on their mortgage despite them having a mortgage contract for “x% over the ECB for the life of the loan”?
This is precisely the situation my husband and I find ourselves in, along with thousands of other mortgage customers, across all the banks.
Earlier this year we exited the MARP (Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process) with Ulster Bank. Up until then we had been in an arrangement to pay less while we got back on our feet after a few rough years financially.
The frugal life
While we were in the MARP we got our household bills right down to a very small figure. We cleared the credit card every month, my husband learned how to service the car himself to save money, we grew our own food, learned to be more energy-efficient, and I managed to get the grocery bill down. That much is no secret.
When there were four of us living here full-time my budget was around €70 per week for food. I’ve since increased it to €80 for food with another €20 for cleaning materials and other items, because there are now five of us (my 17-year-old step daughter lives here full-time and we have two sons aged five and eight).
We’ve been charged the wrong rate
At the same time as we left the arrangement we received professional advice that our mortgage with Ulster Bank was one of those mortgages that you might have heard about in the news last week. One of the mortgages that was being charged at the wrong rate of interest and should be on a tracker rate.
We wrote to the bank and have been writing to the bank since. A lot. The mortgage amount we’re paying at the moment is more than half of our net income and this makes life quite difficult, as you can imagine. If we were being charged the right rate of interest however, and the overcharge adjusted to the right level, our mortgage becomes completely affordable again.
Ulster Bank still haven’t contacted us
Nearly 18 months since the Central Bank first announced an industry-wide investigation into the tracker mortgage issue, to the best of my knowledge, Ulster Bank have yet to contact any of their affected customers with the outcome of their research.
According to Gerry Mallon, CEO of Ulster Bank DAC, speaking at the Oireachtas Finance Committee last week, in the region of 2,000 mortgages have been identified so far as mischarged, and they hope to contact the majority of them before Christmas. It appears they haven’t contacted any of those customers yet, and I don’t hold much confidence that they will despite their assertions last week.
I spend my days waiting for news
In the meantime, I start every morning by checking the bank account, then checking the budget to make sure we’re on track. I follow this up by a keyword search online to see if any other customers have received those magical letters that are due to arrive before Christmas. I check online chat forums and social media, for keywords and references to the same issues that we have.
I wait for the postman and pounce on the letters as they arrive in the hope that we get some positive news. The radio plays in the background all day and I listen out for any snippet of information that might indicate that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Last Thursday morning, for example, was spent watching the Oireachtas Finance Committee questioning Ulster Bank on an online stream. That led to a glimmer of hope that maybe we might get a letter before Christmas, but no certainty.
I’m determined that my children will have a Christmas
The stress is omnipresent. Especially at this time of the year. But we will not go without. The children will have an amazing Christmas. We will focus on what’s important to us as a family.
I just worry so much for the future at the moment because I have no idea when Ulster Bank will actually get back to us and fix this wrong. We need to get the car through the NCT in January and at some stage in the next year we need to replace it.
There’s a student who will be (hopefully) going to college next year and she will need all of our support for that, even with grant aid. Then another child will make their First Holy Communion. Let’s not even talk about pensions, what are they? The list goes on. All of this would be far more affordable if we weren’t being hammered by our mortgage every month.
‘No further update’
Every 60 days or so we get the same letter from the bank, basically telling us they have no further update because they’re working so hard on the issue and they’ll be back in touch in another 60 days.
If we didn’t pay our mortgage in full for 60 days you can be darn sure that they would be sending us letters and making phone calls looking for their money. If we did this since May we could probably expect a solicitor’s letter or three and even a court date to add to the mix.
According to the Central Bank :
“The Examination framework provides that when impacted customers are identified in the first instance, lenders must stop charging the incorrect rate of interest on the customer’s account to ensure that any further customer detriment is stopped as early as possible and communicate this to the customer.”
I don’t believe that 2,000 customers have suddenly materialised out of the blue. I find it even harder to understand why they all must be contacted in bulk. This “error” was industry-wide and happened in the majority of banks in this country who offered tracker mortgages to customers.
Families have lost their homes, families are stressing about money the whole year round, families have engaged with the mortgage arrears process, scraped the money together to pay their mortgages, and gone without to meet their financial obligations. Why can’t the banks?
It’s not the lack of money for groceries that gets me in the end
I don’t notice the difference. It’s the stress, the feeling of tightness in my chest when I think about the bills, the weird anxiety when I consider getting the car past the NCT, and the massive gulp when we pay the mortgage every month. Then the absolute screaming frustration when another niggly thing crops up that we have to pay for, that I have to fit into the budget.
Some days I feel like I’m wandering around in an empty house, in an empty town, in an empty country, with nobody to talk to about how it feels to be constantly worried about money.
Caitriona Redmond is an author, freelance writer, and recipe tester who can be found on www.wholesomeireland.com.
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Not familiar with this story as I live abroad but surely if what you say is true the first thing is to rectify the rate immediately. After that I can understand it taking some time to calculate compensation etc. Surely the Central Bank should be coming down hard on this?
You would think so, it seems obvious but there’s a small (relatively) group of people in this situation and the banks have dragged their heels and the Central Bank has let them. It’s disgraceful. I work in financial services and if we make an error it’s compensated within weeks, even if it’s complex, it’s not, as they say rocket science, it just takes there to be a culture there that the ‘right thing’ must be done – which clearly doesn’t exist in our banks.
Valerie all retail banks now have tracker retention teams set up to investigate and make sure the right people are compensated. It’s happening.
Ireland…one law for us and one for them. They should be fined every single time they mess up..
Go to ombudsman. Only recourse. Banks not listening even to solicitors. Even if u go to solicitor they recommend ombudsman. Go for it. Nothing to lose.
Kevin, the problem with going to the Ombudsman is that the Ombudsman’s Office is set up to advantage the Bank. At present the Ombudsman is obliged to see if they can mediate the problem. That is to see if both parties can come to an arrangement..say meet halfway. If the banks think they are correct then they can refuse to mediate and let it go to an investigation and adjudication committee. They know then that the committee will find in their favour. If they know they are in the wrong they have nothing to lose and will try send mediate. You’ll end up getting half of what the adjudication committee would award. So use your right not to mediate. But the reason why a lot of people are put off sending it for investigation is because it takes over year.
Unfortunately it’s more complicated than that. Presently if you make a complaint to the Ombudsman on the tracker issue, you will be asked to put that complaint on hold until the bank makes a decision. Right now there are no options to complain or require the bank to deal with us. We have complained, we have written many letters, and yet we still have to wait to hear the outcome of the bank’s investigation. It’s madness.
For anybody suggesting we withhold our mortgage payment: we simply can’t do that. We took out the mortgage, live in the house, and have to be responsible for our debt (and arrears).
We are only asking for fairness and for the issue to be resolved in a reasonable timeframe. 18 months to identify approx 2,000 customers so far. Apparently there are nearly 200 staff members working on this. No customers contacted to date either. The figures don’t add up.
Caitriona – the FSO is supposed to give you a choice in the matter. You are right in that they will encourage you to wait for the investigation to be compleyed by the CB but you can opt for the FSO to Investigate themselves. If they come up with something different than the findings of the CB then you’ll be stuck with the FSO finding – unless you appeal to the HC.
@Caitríona Redmond: There are thousands of responsible people out there who can no longer pay their mortgages who have lost their jobs. To call these people irresponsible is shows me that you have zero sympathy for them. The Banks don’t give a damn and the only way to make them take notice is to stop paying everything. You are towing the being ‘responsible’ Being ‘responsible’ is exactly what the bank is expecting you to do. In other words you are doing the banks a massive favour by towing the line. I tried that for 6 years and got nowhere. Don’t be so naive when it comes to banks. Do you think they care about your scraping to pay bills? ha They don’t give a damn. You need to have the courage to be as ruthless as the bank. But judging by your comment you’ll keep towing the line which is your downfall. I did that too and am still being made a fool of by the bank and I am one of those so called ‘impacted’ people. Wake up and stop complying.
Get a solicitor and Sue them for a sickening a amount in damages , and make sure the solicitors claims his fees from the bank not you settlement
Banks will be bust again shortly. Roll on the mayhem. Take away Italy
Spot on……. Then you will have their attention!
The bank should be fined a hefty amount for their “error” and the bankers should be demoted or fired. The mortgage holders should be paid back the overpayments with interest and correct rate applied. Unfortunately as history has shown the banks will continue to do as they please and the public suffers on.
Ten million is the most the bank can be fined
Plus the fine won’t go to the mortgage holders. The Central Bank receives the fine.
I complained directly to UB and got my tracker back but couldn’t get it backdated for the years i was overcharged . Then complained to the Ombudsman, waited a year to be told by them can i put my complaint on hold while the banks were doing their own review. 10 months later and still no word, complete joke
That’s dreadful Dee. I hope you get a letter soon too.
Write to the ombudsman explain your case it worked with a friend of mine took a while though she eventually received a rebate
Tim a rebate is not good enough in my opinion for hardship the banks have put some families through, the banks are a law onto themselves, there needs to be compensation,
I agree this is sickening
Not sure of your particular circumstances re how you lost your tracker Caitriona but I lost mine by signing up for a 3 year fixed rate. I got my tracker reinstated by Ulster Bank about this time last year and also got my overpayments paid back. No ombudsman could help as time had exceeded statute of limitations. It’s an extremely frustrating experience to deal with them but when we did get talking to the right person in the mortgage complaints Dept she was fantastic.
How is this different to the thousands of people who are being gouged by the banks on their variable rate
It’s different because here the bank is applying the wrong rate – it’s their error. Variable rates are gouging at the moment, I agree, but the difference is that if you signed up to a variable rate you did agree to variations in the rate.
My heart goes out to you Catriona. It isn’t easy and when you know how responsible the banks / governments are for the last few hard years on people ..it’d make you sick especially since the cycle will repeat
There is strength in numbers. If there are two thousand people effected by Ulster Bank, surely as a group there are enough people to bring this two the attention of local citizens. With this story, it is highly unlikely that I will ever consider Ulster Bank for a mortgage. No doubt the mortgage holders work full time. Weekend picketing on O’Connell Street? Online protest and request for signatures to have government oversight of Ulster Bank? Leafleting? Online funding request to finance a protest with pickets and leaflets? That is one way to get the word out. Many, many people are angry at banks in general and are likely to contribute. Until Ulster Bank has pain in the purse strings, little will change.
Stop paying the mortgage and they’ll resolve it pretty quick. I don’t know what legal issues this throws up but the only language banks speak is money and bollox.
The banks are absolute ba$tard$ and really don’t care about anyone. I’ve switched my bank a couple of times and switched my mortgage but really they’re all the same!
People should try to do everything they can at least not to pay them quarterly charges! Give them nothing if possible
This is shocking. People waiting a year??? Why isnt this being publicised more? I presumed people shafted on their trackers were notified, returned to their correct rate and refunded what they were overpaid in timely fashion. Why the delay. If the mistake has been notified surely its a simple process to work out whats owed in a refund? Go into their head offices and dont leave untill somebody deals with you. They will have to talk to you if you turn up at their door. They would turn up at your door if the shoe was on the other foot. These banks are the scourge of this country
Good god this is awful. I spend about €200 on groceries p/w. These poor people are being forced to live inhumanely, the children might not even get a Christmas?! Where can I donate ?
There are tens of thousands of families worse off than us this Christmas and most not because of this tracker issue. If you want show your support for families living on a small grocery budget I know that The Lions Club, St Vincent de Paul, Capuchin Day Mission, and many more charities that work in the area would be very grateful.
Hi Catriona I would be glad to pass on the letter I sent to Ulster Bank that I believe helped us to get our tracker back
Thanks Tony. Unfortunately there is little we can do until they complete the Central Bank, whenever that happens. We’ve written to them, provided them with copies of their own documentation, complained, called them, but all to no avail. The Ombudsman is asking all complainants to put their cases on hold pending the outcome of the review. We are very much in limbo until the bank actually writes back with their results. In the meantime we have to pay them in full. It’s very unfair.
It’s not like that thanks we live a good life just don’t like being robbed
If you miss a mortgage payment, the bank is on to you within 10 days… that’s bull, it takes a minimum of 2 years of living in a house payment free before they can get you out the door.
Not to mention responsibility, who knowingly misses a payment without contacting a financial institution before hand or even in the preceding 10 days. There are things you can do… delay a payment, consolidate other debts, make a savings plan, pay what you can. No wonder these people do so poorly in life. Zero responsibility, zero engagement.
@Drew TheChinaman :): There is always one I’m alright Jack attention seeking.
There are always a thousand… banks are to blame for all my problems types moaning.
@Drew TheChinaman :): I’m not sure if you’ve been living in a cave for the last 8 years or so?, but was it not the banks and their crony property developers that forced two successive governments into introducing a relentless series of austerity measures?, yeah I’m fairly sure those bailed out banks can shoulder an enormous amount of blame for the many mortgages in arrears and the repossessions.
We engaged 100%with the bank and discussed this matter at length with the ombudsman only to be told in 2015 that they are reviewing all tracker mortgages and I would have to wait a year later I’m still waiting for a bank to rectify there clerical error (that they have admitted to)
In this case the banks are and have admitted that
Nothing changes, our ‘regulators’ are still toothless and in cahoots with Irish banking.
Take control of the monthly payment.
Stop direct debits.
Pay them what it is that they should be getting.
Stop paying.
is the a group set up somewhere that we can all see whats going on..
How com you don’t do a feature on the people caught in the nightmare of variable mortgage? Noonan and the Central Bank are bleeding these people so that the banks can be fattened up.
have your say