Success - BoI agrees to reinstatement of tracker and to break fixed rate

athlone1974

Registered User
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I have moved these posts from this thread as the different cases were getting complicated and hard to follow - Brendan

Summary
August 2010 |came off a fixed rate onto variable
March 2011| Fixed for 5 years @ 5.1%
April 2011 | Bank told me I should have been on tracker from August 2010 and would put me on tracker from March 2016 when fixed period ends
April 2011| I wanted to be put back on tracker from March 2011 - bank refused
Feb 2012 | After complaint process to Ombudsman, Bank agrees to my original claim
Complaint no 1
I would not have fixed if I had known I was entitled to a tracker. So I demanded to be put back on a tracker from March 2011.
Bank refused and claimed I would have to pay a break fee if I wanted to come off the fixed rate.

Complaint no 2
I was on a variable rate from August 2010 to March 2011. The bank calculated the overcharged and reduced by mortgage by that amount. However, as I had paid this from my current account, I wanted it returned to my current account. The bank agreed to this.

Update 6 April 2012
User Swiggy has had the same successful result from the Bank of Ireland
 
Success story - BoI agrees to immediate reinstatement of tracker

Hi all, I am in the same position with BOI -having come off a fixed rate last August 2010 and reverted to variable rate.I fixed again in March for 5 [email protected]% and then received a letter in April informing me of the Central bank investigation and that they would offer me the tracker rate when my fixed rate finished. Obviously I phoned straight away and insisted I be immediatly put on a tracker as I would never had fixed if I had been aware of my entitlement to the tracker rate, needless to say I got a swift refusal letter indicating penalty clauses etc. I then decided to use my solicitor and we have been over and back with both the bank and the ombudsman -having finally received a final response letter from the bank of refusal I have now agreed to arbitration-but there is only one acceptable outcome in my opinion -a) I am returned immediatly to the tracker rate and b) the bank refunds the difference between tracker and fixed from April 2011 until such time as the dispute is resolved. I also took issue with them over the fact that the original refund they gave me on the difference between variable and tracker from August 10 to April 11 was refunded to my mortgage account-this was just an interest adjustment with no physical money changing hands-my issue with this is my payments come from my current account and therefore I should have been given the option to have this refund credited back into my current account. They have agreed to do this after pointing out that it will increase the length of time it takes to pay my mortgage etc -just waffling really . Will keep you updated as to how it all goes
 
Hi Swiggy, yes I got some waffle from the bank that they informed people of the situation at the end of April because thats the date the Central Bank told them to do so and that there would be no question of anyone getting advance warning . My issue with the them and the Central Bank is that I dont accept that informing the small number of people -only 2096 that were involved was done in a timely fashion -it took them 8 months and secondly I assume that the Central bank are not above contract law and they simply have not fulfilled the T+c's of my original contract. I also used the same arguement as you when I spoke with the bank regarding not having the all the relevant information etc. my solicitor agrees with all the above and as far as he is concerned if we dont get a favourable response from the FO then its off to the High Court - which is fine with me there is no way I am backing down. The mediation is through the Ombudsman and if no agreement is reached there then its back to the Ombudsman for a final decision . No doubt you are like me and feel very hard done by -my mortgage has never been once been late and I thought I was being prudent at the time by fixing as all the hype was about variable rates been done away with etc-even my mortgage broker took the same view that it would be wise to fix and then to receive a letter from the bank telling me I would have to compensate them if I wished to change from the fixed rate now just really got my blood boiling- its the arrogance that they think us ordinary Joe Soaps are just a push over and will accept what they say. I have been with this bank for years and have always had a good relationship with them but now I am just downright disgusted with them . I'm not sure when my arbitration will happen but hope to receive confirmation next week so will keep you updated. I think the more people that proceed with their complaints to the FO the better for all involved - they will surely have to take some action. Will keep you updated and good luck with the FO
 
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Hi all just to keep you updated on my situation, received a letter from the FSO thanking me for agreeing to enter mediation but they said the other party did not respond in the time frame alloted so they are obviously not interested in entering mediation so the FSO will now make a decision on my case - however they pointed out in their letter that it would take up to 20 weeks due to the volume of complaints they have received in the last year - got the letter on the 4th of December so that brings me up to the end of April -fingers crossed I get a favourable response as I am about to become a first time Mom in June and will be dependent on state maternity benefit for my leave so paying the mortgage will become a problem. As soon as I receive any word will let you know .
 
Hi All ,

Just a quick update as to where my case stands now. The FSO sent the Bank a letter with a list of questions about 6 weeks ago giving them 21 days to respond to same. About two weeks ago the bank responded saying that they were now willing to contact me directly to resolve the dispute (they didnt answer any of the questions posed) . FSO said I should expect communication within 10-28 days.
Had a letter from the Bank this morning reiterating the findings in their final response letter and then in the next line stated that they would like to settle the dispute amicably as part of the preparation of the full investigation carried out by the FSO and that they were willing to restore me to the ECB tracker rate plus 1.3% and refund the difference in interest back to March 2011 when I fixed. They reiterated again that it didnt mean I had a contractual right but that they wanted to settle amicably-made it sound like they were doing me a favour !!! Also asked which account I would like the money refunded to- I will of course request into my current account. I am also sending them the bill for my solicitors fees as I feel I would not have had to take legal advice in the first place had they been in any way agreeable at the start.
For anyone still waiting I would advise you to persevere -they probably thought I would back down as I am sure many people have, its taken me almost a full year to sort this out but was worth it in the end.
Best of luck to everyone hope you all have the same result as me.
 
Athlone

Great result. Your determination has paid off in spades and will be a huge encouragement to others.

I have sumarised your case in the first post, to help people understand it.

Have I got it right?

Brendan
 
Hi Brendan-thanks for that -yes you got it exactly right in your summary. Best of luck to everyone else who's pursuing the same course- I know it was time consuming and stressful but it all paid off in the end. The bank have also agreed to refund me the difference between fixed and tracker dating back to March 2011 and requested that I let them know which account I wanted it refunded to so great result all round
 
Wow! Well done at Athlone. We should have been offered a tracker in 2009 but they only informed us of this last month when they offered us our tracker back because we're coming off a 2 year fixed. Do you think we should look for the difference between 2009 and now in interest rates? We were just that happy to be offered a tracker that we didn't ask any questions. The bank never wrote to us informing us of the error. They just sent out a letter with the different options of rates and a tracker was included.
 
Just a quick update as to where my case stands now. The FSO sent the Bank a letter with a list of questions about 6 weeks ago giving them 21 days to respond to same. About two weeks ago the bank responded saying that they were now willing to contact me directly to resolve the dispute (they didnt answer any of the questions posed) .

Aren't they the clever boys then. They will settle now that you've made the effort (not easy) to go all the way. So at the last minute they will settle without admitting their deliberate mismanagement of your mortgage. Presumably then it doesn't go under the statistics for a case in favour or customer but a 'settlement'. There must be a reason they didn't answer the questions and must also be a reason they don't want to go via the FSO.

Now what would their reasons be. To not admit liability, to not have a record in the FSO for this. To thwart other people in your position.

Why on earth is the bank not ordered by those who regulate to forthwith sort this out for everyone in the same position. Isn't that what regulation and regulators are for. And not only should they be ordered to sort it out, this should be followed up with the bank supplying a list of all customers affected and confirmation that it has actually been implemented.
 
Hi TillyD

I would certainly enquire as to why they are now offering you a tracker rate -have a look at your original mortgage contracts etc. It certainly seems a bit fishy that they are giving you this option now when they are so allergic to trackers . If they did make an error I would definitely request that they refund the difference for the two years. Did you receive a letter from them last April ? .

Hi Bronte-thats just it they dont want to it listed in official statistics -also I think they are maybe getting a bit nervous as the FSO has come out and said they are sick and tired of the Banks and the way they are treating some of their customers (I havent heard the exact interviews but my solicitor advised me of same) . Apparently the FSO said they were going to name and shame. At the end of the day it shouldnt even be down to the FSO to sort this out - a few of us on here were getting ready to send a letter to the Central Bank -whom I think should have been clearer in their instructions to the Bank when this issue arose and they should also have been more timely in informing people -took them 8 months to let 2096 people know, what a joke ! Of course the Bank should also have done the decent thing and offered the facility to break out of fixed rate to anyone who was affected as they knew morally and in my opinion despite their letter to me that they were contractually obliged to do this - but as always its the ordinary Joe Soaps like us who are punished.
As I said previously I am so glad I didnt back down and stuck with it as I couldnt see how it would not pay off for me.
 
Hi Athlone,

We fixed in 2006 for 3 years, in 2009 they offered us a variable rate and the usual fixed rates with no mention of a tracker. We fixed again in 2009 for 2 years. Our fixed was up in April (this month) and all of a sudden we are being offered a tracker. We were almost too afraid to question it until now. I did not receive any letters from boi explaining why we are now being offered a tracker.
 
Hi TillyD - did you look at your original mortgage contract to see what the wording was on that? Or did you receive any correspondance from them last April telling you that you were one of the 2096 customers entitled to tracker rate ? It certainly seems very suspicious to me that they are offering you a tracker now -unless it was a typo!!!! They are not giving them to anyone anymore -I would definitely investigate further -if they've made the offer they have to stand by it so I wouldnt be afraid of asking them why they are now offering it to you. Best of luck and let us know how you get on
 
Hi Athlone74
I also got the letter reinstating the tracker with immediate effect without having to pay a break out fee. A year later, this has finally been resolved to our satisfaction.
Regards
Swiggy

Discussed in this post
 
Well done Swiggy and Athlone. It goes to show you what can be achieved if you stick at it and don’t accept what the Bank tells you as gospel.

I too have had a successful outcome regarding this issue. My case is nearly identical to Swiggys. Our tracker rate has been reinstated and we have been refunded the difference while we were on the Fixed rate. Again the Bank only refunded us this after the FSO sent them a list of questions as part of their investigation. My advice to others in a similar situation is to be patient, follow the FSO process to the letter, keep all correspondence in writing, and question everything the bank tells you if it does not sound right.

My only regret now is that since my case has been settled that the Bank will not have a finding made against them by the FSO. I just did not want to risk loosing anything by not settling and waiting on the FSO to decide the case.
 
That's interesting Detones, so now 3 people on AAM have their tracker reinstated. Any chance Detones that you would write to the contral bank to ask them what they are doing for all other people in your situation.

The bank will not reinstate other people unless enough people complain. And the central bank should make an order on this. It should not be necessary for people to a) have to complain b) be fobbed off initially c) go to the ombudsman.
 
That’s a good point Bronte i'll give that some consideration. I believe there were around 2000 people affected by this issue. I wonder how many have taken up cases with the ombudsman? or how many gave up at the first hurdle once the bank said no. I'm not overly familiar with the powers of the central Bank but if they could provide justice for all who were mistreated it would be worth pursuing.
 
That's correct Detones but it requires people like you to act. And go all the way. Wouldn't take you too long to write a letter. We could follow your progress on here as it would be interesting for a lot of people to hear the response from the Central Bank.
 
Hi just have a quick query was hoping someone could advise me. Started mortgage 2004 on introductory offer of variable for twelve months then i automatically reverted to tracker in 2005.. Did this but fixed in 2007. Have contacted ics a number of times and continually told as i started on introductory rate i am not entitled to my tracker back when the fixed period ends in may..Is this correct or am i being fobbed off..I would really appreciate anybodys advise or experience..
 
Nesswill the first step is to carefully read your loan documentation. After that, and you can post question up here to help you, you make a complaint in writing to the ICS and see what their response is. Don't waste time on phone calls.

If you don't have the original loan documentation as the bank for a copy, or your solicitor. This would be the original loan and later the fixed rate documents that you signed.
 
Hi All,

Just a quick update on where I am - as of yesterday confirmation from Bank that I am back on the tracker rate and refund has been made to my current account so I'm happy out.
Neswill if you find that you are entitled to the tracker -ask the bank straight away to give you a letter of final response to confirm they are refusing you -you will need this if you make a complaint to the FSO and if you ask straight away it will save you a lot of faffing around and going over and back with irrelevant letters . Best of luck
 
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