AIB Do AIB prevailing rate cases need to do anything in the light of AIB's announcement?

[Brendan Burgess]

This has come up a few times in the longer thread, so I will try to answer it here.

The answer is that no one needs to do anything for the moment. Just keep an eye on this thread for further updates.

Today AIB made a provision of €300m for redress and said : "The Board also recognises it is in the interests of the Group, our customers and our other stakeholders to bring this matter to a resolution and discussions are ongoing with the Central Bank of Ireland with regard to potential appropriate treatment of this group of customers."

No one knows for sure what will happen but the most likely outcome is that AIB will be told by the Central Bank to apply the Ombudsman's decision to all affected customers.

An affected customer is one who has Clause 3.2 in their contract i.e. someone whose contract said : "at the end of the fixed rate period, you can choose between .... and a tracker mortgage at the then prevailing rates"

These people got €1,615 back in 2018.

We don't know what that offer will be but my guess is that AIB will offer a deal which most people will gladly accept. But no one will have to take the deal. They will be able to look for more from the Ombudsman or the High Court if they are not happy.

I have not done anything since I got the letter back in 2018
You don't need to do anything now as it's likely that the deal will be offered to you.

I am still exchanging correspondence with the Appeals Panel
You should write to BDO asking them to put it on hold until AIB makes an announcement.

The Appeals Panel rejected my appeal, should I go to the Ombudsman?
No, there is no need to do so. If AIB does not offer you satisfactory redress, you can go to the Ombudsman then.

But it's nearly 6 months since my appeal was rejected, am I not in danger of running out of time to complain to the Ombudsman?
No you are not. That artificial deadline was set by AIB and has no relevance. You have 6 years to complain from the date of the behaviour complained of. The behaviour you are complaining of is the unsatisfactory letter you received in early 2018.



I have submitted a complaint to the Ombudsman and I have just received AIB's response to my complaint.
You should write to the Ombudsman and ask him to put the case on hold pending an announcement from AIB.

I took a case to the Ombudsman a few years ago and lost
In other cases, the Central Bank insisted that the banks review all cases whether they had been rejected by the Ombudsman or not, so I believe that the deal will be offered to you.

However, if it's not, there is nothing you can do. The Ombudsman is not legally allowed to reopen a case.

 

[Brendan Burgess]

I am on the SVR and thinking of fixing?
Maybe hold off doing anything until you hear from AIB

I paid a lump sum off my mortgage a year ago which we would not have done had we been on a tracker
Not sure what the Central Bank guidance is on this. Deposit rates are so low, that paying down a tracker is often the right thing to do.

I am thinking of switching to another lender?
Again, hold off for the moment.

I switched to another lender 6 months ago
You will still get compensation. You do not need to be still with AIB to avail of the whatever deal is offered.

We sold our house a few months ago?
Again, there isn't anything you can do apart from wait.

 

[David_Dublin]

I paid a lump sum off my mortgage a year ago which we would not have done had we been on a tracker
Not sure what the Central Bank guidance is on this. Deposit rates are so low, that paying down a tracker is often the right thing to do.

Thanks again Brendan for all the hard work, delighted for you and all on here that will benefit from the work.

Just on the above, while one angle is the Deposit rates being low, the other is that one might have chosen to invest/spend rather than pay down the SVR. We have a split mortgage, equal principal amounts, one half tracker one half SVR. We chose 50% tracker/50% 2 Year Fixed (with clause 3.2) in 2008. Anyhow, last month we paid 80k off the SVR. If we had known that the SVR might become a tracker, we would have kept the 80k and done the job on the house we're saving for. I wonder will AIB allow us "take back" or "top up" the tracker for the amount we paid in. I'm not sure I have the energy for a battle over this....

 

[elizabeth456789]

This has come up a few times in the longer thread, so I will try to answer it here.

The answer is that no one needs to do anything for the moment. Just keep an eye on this thread for further updates.

Today AIB made a provision of €300m for redress and said : "The Board also recognises it is in the interests of the Group, our customers and our other stakeholders to bring this matter to a resolution and discussions are ongoing with the Central Bank of Ireland with regard to potential appropriate treatment of this group of customers."

No one knows for sure what will happen but the most likely outcome is that AIB will be told by the Central Bank to apply the Ombudsman's decision to all affected customers.

An affected customer is one who has Clause 3.2 in their contract i.e. someone whose contract said : "at the end of the fixed rate period, you can choose between .... and a tracker mortgage at the then prevailing rates"

These people got €1,615 back in 2018.

We don't know what that offer will be but my guess is that AIB will offer a deal which most people will gladly accept. But no one will have to take the deal. They will be able to look for more from the Ombudsman or the High Court if they are not happy.

I have not done anything since I got the letter back in 2018
You don't need to do anything now as it's likely that the deal will be offered to you.

I am still exchanging correspondence with the Appeals Panel
You should write to BDO asking them to put it on hold until AIB makes an announcement.

The Appeals Panel rejected my appeal, should I go to the Ombudsman?
No, there is no need to do so. If AIB does not offer you satisfactory redress, you can go to the Ombudsman then.

But it's nearly 6 months since my appeal was rejected, am I not in danger of running out of time to complain to the Ombudsman?
No you are not. That artificial deadline was set by AIB and has no relevance. You have 6 years to complain from the date of the behaviour complained of. The behaviour you are complaining of is the unsatisfactory letter you received in early 2018.



I have submitted a complaint to the Ombudsman and I have just received AIB's response to my complaint.
You should write to the Ombudsman and ask him to put the case on hold pending an announcement from AIB.

I took a case to the Ombudsman a few years ago and lost
In other cases, the Central Bank insisted that the banks review all cases whether they had been rejected by the Ombudsman or not, so I believe that the deal will be offered to you.

However, if it's not, there is nothing you can do. The Ombudsman is not legally allowed to reopen a case.

Thanks Brendan, this is so helpful and has answered all my queries. You have gone above and beyond.