IIB are ignoring our official complaints....

A

ailbhe

Registered User
Messages
481
Hi all,
We remortgaged in Nov 07 and IIB were our previous mortgage company.
On the 28th Nov we recieved the cheque from our new mortgage provider and our solicitor called IIB and asked for a closing figure. He was told someone would call back but nobody did so on the 29th Nov solicitor sent a fax to IIB and a registered letter.
Another phone call was made on 8th December(no returned call from IIB) and again on 21st December. Finally IIB gave us the final figures which were duly paid.
Our issue was that the delay from 29th November to 21st December cost us €970 in interest.
We contacted IIB who blamed the solicitor for not chasing it up. Solicitor has proof of contact and letters, faxes etc.

Solicitor sent an official written complaint to IIB in January which was ignored. 3-4 weeks later we sent another (Feb 15th approx) which we have not recieved response to. Solicitor wants to send another letter but my opinion is that they have breached their customer charter by ignoring us for over 2 months.

(From IIB website

The Consumer Protection Code requires us to attempt to
investigate and resolve a complaint within 40 business days
of receipt. However we generally respond to all complaints
within 10 working days.
Where it is necessary to consult others, or if the complexity
of the matter requires more time, a revised response time​
and a progress report will be issued)



What is the financial ombudsman like to deal with? Quick or dragged out?
Would we win our case (in peoples opinion)?

We did initially just want the €970 back but two months on and our legal expenses are totting up along with wasted time and interest they are making on the money. Should we be grateful to get the €970 back or should we look for expenses(legal) aswell along with compensation?

Thanks
 
Re: IIB are ignoring out official complaints....

that is bad customer service, i work in financial services and most company's have specific complaints departments so they should have at least contacted you in relation to your complaint, they usually have quite strict guidelines as they are frightened of ombudsman being involved as it doesn't look good on the company, i'd go ombudsman you will be surprised how quick it can be resolved, not sure on timeframe exactly could be 2 or 3 weeks but i would bet earlier, they will put a rush on it coming from ombudsman. its a good case as they did not reply to you, i would take the 970 and run....
 
Re: IIB are ignoring out official complaints....

im more than surprised to hear that as i would have rated iib as one of the best for customer service (no i dont work with them but have dealt with them).

To be honest, im not surprised your solicitor didnt get a mortgage redemption over the phone, most of the lenders ive dealt with demand the request in writing but like the other reply says, ring the financial regulator, get copies of all letters your solicitor has sent and tell them you want to put in a complaint, they take these things seriously.
 
Re: IIB are ignoring out official complaints....

I too was very surprised at the lack of response (even if it was just to tell us they were looking into it!) as I work in the financil sector (insurance) and we have a very strict complaints procedure. And we are a small company!

I think we will have to go the ombudsman route. Clearly IIB are hoping we will just shut up and go away or else they just don't know what they are doing and our letters are buried under a mound of paperwork somewhere!
 
Re: IIB are ignoring out official complaints....

Don't be worried. Maybe the week before you are due to get the cheque from your new mortgage, call IIB and ask for a statement with details of how much interest it is costing per day. That way when you get your cheque your solicitor can calculate your closing balance and send off the cheque rather than waiting for them to issue figures.
When we spoke to a manager in IIB we were told that we should have done this (along with the them saying the delay was caused by the solicitor).

I should also add that our experience with IIB was very good up to this point. I can only hope that it is unusual and that we are just unfortunate that we have been overlooked on this matter.
 
Re: IIB are ignoring out official complaints....

I've had a very bad experience with the ombudsman about a similar issue (delays by a financial institution leading to lost interest).

He had no interest in the complaint and told me to take it to the High Court if I disagreed - having delayed my complaint unnecessarily for months on end.

Having said that - I think it's the best way to go - if you decide to take things further then it shows that you have tried every possible mediation. It's always possible that your case is one that he pays attention to!
 
Re: IIB are ignoring out official complaints....

i'd echo what ailbhe says, get your own redemption figures, and make sure its a redemption figure you ask for as will include daily interest rate and isnt the same as just getting the balance of the mortgage.
 
Just an update. I was preparing to send off the forms to the Ombudsman and decided to ring IIB and give them another chance to respond.
The customer service agent who answered said that they had the letters we sent but they were just scanned and not forwarded to anyone for review (pretty much what happened to our written request for redemption figures). She got a complaints manager to call back (which she did within 30 minutes) and she was very apologetic that we had been overlooked.
I agreed to give her 5 working days to get an answer for us regarding the refund. She said she hopes to be back to us before that.
So I guess it's another week of waiting. I'd prefer to sort it this way rather than going through the ombudsman so hopefully we can reach an agreement.
 
Last update....
We got a call from IIB and they are refunding the interest paid. Very apologetic about all that went on and sorry that we were overlooked etc.

So thankfully, I don't need to put in a complaint with the Ombudsman.
 
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