PTSB Implications of AIB decision for PTSB clients with "prevailing rate" issues

WhiteCoat

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Hi Brendan et al,

Firstly, congratulations on your success regarding AIB. Very well done to all.

Just wondering what the implications of this decision are for PTSB customers who are similarly affected by the prevailing rate issue?
 
Brilliant stuff Brendan and all who helped. Wondering about implications myself.

I'm Ptsb prevailing rate cohort A at 3.25%.
Hopefully this case mirrors a ptsb case to be ruled on, and we can get the same outcome. A retrospective rate of around 1% would be the icing on the cake.

Any good news is long overdue, well done guys, and congratulations to all AIB customers affected.
 
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Sorry folks, there are no direct implications whatsoever for ptsb customers or any other customers from the AIB decision.

AIB and ptsb had roughly the same wording in the contract.
ptsb adhered to the contract and offered their customers the "then current tracker rate.". Some accepted it and some rejected it.
AIB broke their contract and did not offer a prevailing rate.

The only indirect implication is that the Ombudsman has shown that he is prepared to properly study the case from both sides and to make a decision without fear or favour. If he thinks that you have a case, he will not worry about the implications of that decision for ptsb. If he thinks that you have no case, he won't worry about the inevitable public criticism of him for finding accordingly.

Brendan
 
Does anyone know if there is any of the prevailing rate cohort from PTSB with the ombudsman currently awaiting decision!?
 
can I ask is the prevailing rate issue part of the Discounted tracker one also? Did this cohort have a discounted tracker and the contract stated they would be put back on the prevailing rate or are they 2 totally separate cohorts?
 
Will be interesting to see what prevailing rate AIB now will offer its customers impacted. Has a rate been agreed as part of this review? AIB always said it would have been high if offered for e.g 8%. The PTSB prevailing rate was 2.25% and 3.25% depending on the year. So if AIB end up giving prevailing rate close to the 1% that trackers are known to be at then does not make the PTSB prevailing rate argument stronger.
 
can I ask is the prevailing rate issue part of the Discounted tracker one also?

As far as I know, they are separate but related.

In the pure prevailing rate cases, people took out fixed rate mortgages which said that they would be offered the "then current tracker rate" when the fixed rate expired. When the fixed rate term expired, ptsb offered these customers the then current tracker rate. (In the AIB case, AIB broke the contract and did not offer the prevailing rate.)

The discounted trackers had a product called discounted tracker.
They started on a tracker with a 0.2% discount for the first year which brought it to 0.6%.
These customers not unreasonably thought that they were on a tracker rate of 0.8% discounted to 0.6%

But they had the same clause about "then current" so they were offered 2.25% and 3.25% margins.

My view is that the name of a product should trump anything written in the small print.

For example, you can't call a savings product "The 10% rate deposit" and then write in the small print that the 10% is paid on only 1% of your savings and it's 0% on the rest.

Brendan
 
The ptsb prevailing rates cases will not be linked to any other decisions, the cases will have to win in their own right. I have submitted a complaint based on it being an unfair term in a consumer contract based on guidance published last yr by the european commission, outside this being sucessfull i would think it's unlikely that there will be any changes. It will be interesting to see if the fspo has made any decisions on complaints in this category
 
Was Padraic Kissane taking a high court case with this cohort? Or was he helping clients go to the ombudsman first!?
 
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