I have spoken to Padraig Kissane.
He has taken 11 cases against Ulster Bank to the Ombudsman and the Ombudsman has upheld all 11 complaints. The borrowers were put back on their trackers and were given a refund of the overcharge since the fixed rate expired.
He has taken two other cases against UB, which they settled without needing to go to the Ombudsman.
Padraig will meet you and look at the following 3 documents
- The original mortgage/loan offer
- The rate change authority when you fixed
- The options letter you received when your fixed rate expired
He does not charge for the first short meeting where he will tell you if you have a case or not.
He charges €600 for taking a complaint on your behalf.
If you get a refund, he charges 15% of the refund.
His contact details are
info@kissanefs.com and 01 205 1305. His website is "under construction".
Since the Indo article he has been contacted by clients of most of the other financial institutions.
I think that it's probably worth paying for this service. The Ombudsman assesses each case from scratch - they don't go on precedent. While each case is different, there are hurdles to be overcome. Someone who has successfully taken a number of different cases is more likely to succeed than someone taking a case for the first time.
Of course, all of this should be unnecessary. UB should simply review all cases which came out of the fixed rate which were entitled to trackers and put them back on trackers.
Failing UB doing it on their own initiative, the Central Bank should tell them to do so.