Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
ULSTER BANK EARNED €100 million by overcharging its customers over a number of years, it was revealed today.
The bank has admitted it overcharged thousands of its customers, mainly by denying tracker rates with “ambiguities” in its contracts. It has set aside a fund of €211 million to pay back the €100 million it wrongly took from customers and to compensate them for the damage caused.
Two of the bank’s officials, chief financial officer Paul Stanley and head of corporate affairs Elizabeth Arnett appeared before the Oireachtas Finance Committee today for a grilling about their progress. Their CEO Gerry Mallon, however, was not with them.
Just last week it was announced that Mallon will resign from his role later this year and serve as Tesco Bank’s chief executive in the UK. Stanley told committee members there was precedent for an outgoing CEO not attending the committee.
However, several members were critical of the bank executive’s decision not to appear before them. “He should be here,” Michael McGrath told him.
“It’s unacceptable,” Pearse Doherty said.
“I’d say it’s disgusting that Mr Mallon is not here today,” Senator Rose Conway-Walsh later told his colleagues.
This was not the only criticism the committee had to share with Stanley and Arnett. It has repeatedly called out Ulster Bank for being behind the other lenders in terms of paying back and compensating its customers.
In his opening statement, Stanley acknowledged that the length of time it has taken is “unacceptable”. So far, 1,200 of the bank’s almost 3,500 overcharged customers have been paid back and compensated.
It will be the end of June before all 3,500 are paid back.
Sinn Féin’s Pearse Doherty described the pace of progress in Ulster Bank as “pathetic”, pointing out that fewer than 200 customers had been paid back and compensated in the month of January.
Compensation
Senator Rose Conway-Walsh also asked about the levels of compensation being offered, telling executives that the average for some of the other banks is 20%.
Stanley said compensation offers range from 12% for a customer who was never in arrears or financial difficulty to 15.5% for those with whom the bank had engaged in legal proceedings.
When asked whether the Central Bank had expressed approval of these compensation rates, he repeatedly said the regulator had “noted them”.
He told Conway-Walsh that there are currently six appeals to this compensation, but 140 customers have asked for appeal packs, so more may follow.
And the number of impacted customers is likely to increase, the committee heard, as Ulster Bank is currently “in engagement” with the Central Bank on other cohorts of accounts.
Stanley said he could not give any time frame for these potential additions.
‘A gun to their head’
Under questioning by Fianna Fáil TD Michael McGrath, the bank’s chief financial officer confirmed 15 customers lost their homes as a direct result of the overcharging.
Six of these were voluntary surrenders and there were also two repossessions.
Only one of the 15 homes has not been sold on by the bank.
“If someone volunteers, it’s with a gun to their head, to avoid court,” McGrath said.
Stanley said these customers all received a €50,000 upfront payment and the bank is “doing its utmost” to ensure these people can get another house. The largest cheque he has written in these cases is for upwards of €300,000.
Earlier in his opening statement, Stanley had told the committee: “We believe that we have a moral obligation to be fair and to put things right as quickly as possible when we get it wrong.”
On his turn to speak, committee chair John McGuinness said Ulster Bank “has a brass neck like no other I’ve ver seen”.
He said the opening statement would have people believe the bank is putting customers first but the large volume of letters TDs and Senators were receiving from their customers would indicate otherwise.
McGuinness read from a number of these letters, including one from a woman who has been waiting 17 months for the bank to rectify her situation. He said she had told the bank of her personal situation, both in relation to her health and finance, in November 2016, with a further meeting in December 2017.
She said she was told she would be treated as a priority. “She then had to write emails to us on 26 January because you didn’t respond.”
“None of what you’re saying here adds up in the context of an example of a batch of emails I have received about how your bank is treating customers.”
If you have been affected by the tracker mortgage scandal, we want to hear your story. Get in touch by sending a message to trackermortgage@thejournal.ie.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
It’s not a scandal – it’s fraud. A conspiracy to defraud customers by all of the banks.
They got caught – now there should be jail time for the perpetrators.
@Shakka1244: shakka,was Bank of Scotland responsible for tracker scandal too?
@Blants: agreed their only interest is profit by any dubious means possible. They are only interested in customers as cash generators. Any one with a bank account with Ulster Bank will end up collectively paying this compensation. Dream on if you think the bank will ACTUALLY pay it. When it is finally paid the bank should have its licence to operate revoked. Shower of heartless people, but then was it ever any other way?
luckily for them no garlic was found on their premises.
@sixmile: garlic ,sure that’s only peanuts to them
Ulster Bank Ireland made an operating profit of €365m in 2015. Making €100m from tracker mortgages puts that profit figure into perspective. Books well and truly cooked!!
The silence is deafening from all the blueshirts that are usually on here.
@Derek Poutch: how intelligent of you
@Hurt Stoogie: Does the truth hurt Hurt?
@Derek Poutch: not a gov supporter but was it not gov who forced the banks to pay back the money they scammed off customers?
@Brendan Walsh: Then why doesn’t same government actually do anything about the criminal activities of these bankers. Big deal they forced them to pay back what they robbed. How do they pay back the broken families who lost their homes and in some cases lost their lives.
Over to you Garda and CAB.
@Pat O’Connor: Too busy chasing down TV lisence dodgers and other serious criminals. I like the way he said “we have a moral duty”, since when did any bank have morals.
simple solution, make them pay it all back plus interest and then fine them 200million
@Fear Uisce: Oh and the banks will pass on the “fees” to its customers.
Nobody beats the House!
Gardai and DPP are scared to go after them, an Inquiry will be set up and rumble on…..spot of Gold old bean :P
Elizabeth Arnett of Irish Water fame, enough said
@Kevin Keegan: yawn this is an article about banks not water. Just because she worked in IW you have to try and engage the water argument all over again.
@Kevin Keegan:
The carousel of well paid plum appointments continues..like lanigans ball..whose turn is next?
@The Exhibition Guy!: yawn away, im well aware of what the article is about! How many more times are we going to see her mentioned in articles relating to people being screwed over?
@Kevin Keegan: She could teach us a lot about avoiding the truth.
@Kevin Keegan: yea cos she is the person who “screwed us over” as you put it. She’s a spokesperson for the company. You might want to start looking closer to leinster house for those people if you believe that…I’m no fan of IW or her…she’s simply doing her job.
@The Exhibition Guy!: ah yes thanks i get it now, “she is only doing her job” ………..as you put it. The usual excuse the ‘im alright Jack’ brigade trot out that ensures these people carry on getting away with it.
Again we see the duplicity of how justice is metered out in the republic of opportunities ,These guys are above the law which the state expects the rest of us to obey ,these committees and tribunal s are trotted out to give us the impression the common man is being protected ,but its all a political charade .the political class are every bit as guilty .they simply dont have the balls to put white collar crime in its place .
“Earned” I think the word you’re looking for is stole. This has been nothing short of a con job. Had any individual or company successfully conned a bank out of even a fraction of what has been stolen from mortgage holders, they would now be facing serious prison time.
Someone in each of the banks found to have engaged in this despicable act consciously made the decision to withhold tracker rates causing incalculably damage to many families. These people should face justice because if they don’t there will be no deterrent for the next con job.
There’s no accountability when your country is run by a corrupt corporate governance.. owned by the banks for the banks .. wake up people
Pure
s(umbags
Will the gardai make arrests?
Will they fawk
Easier to arrest protesters
This outrageous situation which also saw people loose the homes was allow to happen under the administration of the Government, therefore they are the real cause of this,
and come the next election people will give them the authority to allow it happen again.
@conriel: FG led governments legislated twice so the banks and vulture funds would find it easier to obtain eviction orders in the Circuit court.
Revolution
What’s a tracker mortgage?
A lady was jailed for 100 grand welfare fraud last week so that should mean a few years for all connected,
We are backing brave.. We will meet you to discuss your mortgage needs before breakfast… 2% free cash back… the bank that likes to say yes … to big to fail .. oooops I did it again as Ms B Spears used to say..
Rats in suits
The bast@rds. Every single bank is corrupt and bent
Jail the f@ckers!
a misunderstanding im sure
@frank murphy:
Against 3,500 customers, and all in favour of UB.
Difficult misunderstanding to understand!
@frank murphy: These are the real scammers and entitled. Not the ones Skehan lies about.
The government is as corrupt as the banks. That’s why the banks know they will get away with this theft. You FG fanboys are equally corrupt.
Complete fraud and they should be jailed for it. This is an absolute disgrace and if you went into a bank and robbed it and got caught you’d get 10 years. I can’t see how this is any different, people lost their homes over this scandal.
GRG and hedge fraud on the way also folks. Hope none of you have shares in RBS or Ulster Bank.
Heading the way of the Dodos
The money was just resting in their account.
vfs
Surprise, Surprise ? Ulster Bank is the worst (ahead of Bo I) of all the fraudulent banks. Not that our “so called “ regulators, “The Central Bank” who failed to act until forced to did or will do And now they want to reward failure by promoting Philip Lane to the EU Bank. Afraid there is not much hope for the little person inthis Banker driven country run by weak inept politicians !!!
Looks like these F@$KERs will soon loose the €100million they stole from customers, and outrage and here’s hoping that useless academic clown of a Central Bank governor gets the ECB job and F@$KS right of to Europe
If these people are allowed get away with this, what message does it send out to the rest of us. Is it stealing millions is OK only if your in the click but be jaysus you better pay your TV licence or you will go to prison.
And those who lost their homes should have them replaced by UB.
Kill FIAT. Go crypto. Blockchain & decentralised exchanges. Keep ur keys on a hardware wallet. The end is nigh for these parasites.
@Dance Cuts: dead right. Bankers are finished and Cripto will see to that
People should take to the streets and social media and demand jail time for these fraudulent Ulster Bank thieves, and also the likes of ex B o I CEO Richie Boucher should be hauled back and jailed as well
If every mortgage holder in the country withheld one repayment you would see the bankers slithering around in their own shit. Hit them in the pocket its all they understand. Keep doing it untill they clean up their act. Polititions will do f#ck all.
@Brian harris: yes! All we can expect from politicians is Hot Air, all blow and no balls!!!
I’m not going to read the entire thread but nothing has ever been done to the criminals running the banks from the days since the foundation of the state. Why? Well, I have my own theories on it but there is little or no doubt that unless some of these vermin are jailed and have their ill-gotten gains taken from them that they will continue to do as they wish.
How would I know if I was affected?
@Xylophobiac:
Get your paperwork analysed
Easy done, not expensive
This dubious tracker over the top payments allowed a 1.5 billion dividend payment in 2016 to the parent company RBS as some would thank you for the 15 billion hit RBS (73% owned by the British taxpayer) took in the 2008 financial crises. At least these losses unlike our other domestic bank losses were not dropped unto Irish taxpayers shoulders via the National Debt burden. The Irish Central bank and the political class have succeeded in stabilizing the Irish banking system by squeezing extra capital from the system and the Irish public.Other collateral damage is the transfer of physical assets at steep discounted prices and the disappearance for several years of domestic construction. Other costs emigration leading to rural decimation etc etc
have your say