Below is what I sent to Cental Bank and Mr Noonan to highlight the Danske situation for myself and thousands of others. ( copied and pasted using I phone so apologies for format)
It made me feel better that I had at least communicated my feelings instead of just sitting here getting worked up..!!
CB encouraged me to write in to help them gauge customer sentiment.
It's a step if nothing else...
Dear Sir/ Madam & Mr Noonan TD,
I appreciate you are all busy people so thankyou for allowing me to highlight my concerns regarding the negative impact of Danske Bank, here in Ireland.
Danske Bank no longer provide retail banking in Ireland, therefore are unable to provide any options or services to customers.
Danske Bank no longer provide a 'Bricks and Mortar' retail banking service, products or options.
Pepper Asset Management 'Service' the mortgages yet are unable to offer any options or services as they are not a Bank...
The only option Pepper Asset Management want to offer is 'restructuring' which for me is totally inappropriate as we pay our mortgage in full and on time. We are a good bet, not a toxic loan.
Therefore, What exactly are the 'Market Conditions'mentioned inDanske Bank mortgage contracts that can possibly justify an SVR rate of 4.95%, taking into account my points above?!
It could be perceived that Danske Bank and Pepper Asset Management are exploiting their 'Captive Audience' whereby they offer nothing yet can sit back and charge unjustifiably high rates.
Do we pay an extra 0.5% over the the perceived high rates of 4.5% charged by 'functioning Irish banks', purely to pay for Pepper Asset Management?
Why do ourselves and others like us deserve to be in this'Captive' situation and who is looking out for us and approximately 14000 otherDanske Bank customers?
Are Danske Bank & Pepper Asset Management regulated by the Central Bank?
Regardless, it could be perceived that the Government and the Central Bank are allowing this to happen and doing nothing to stop these companies exploiting solvent, honest and hard working Irish customers.
Why are we and other Danske Bank customers being discriminated against purely because we are customers of a bank that decided to exit the country?
Also, what happens if an inevitable rate increase sends many Danske Bank customers into arrears? Would this potentially be a big step backwards for the industry as a whole.?
We are terrified of an inevitable rate increase and frustrated at paying excessively high rates for the pleasure of being discriminated against, whilst the rest of the Irish banking industry are slowly starting to offer options to customers to take control of their housing situations.
Why are Danske Bank customers allowed to be treated differently and denied these opportunities?
For example, if our rate was reduced, it would enable us to pay off more of the borrowed capital and reduce our LTV so we could move to a larger house.
This could only be good for the market as a whole if like minded customers were able to do the same without being held back by Danske Bank
Purely from a business point of view, would it not be better for Danske Bank customers to be paying interest to an Irish Bank that you may be intending of selling off at some point in the future?
Can Danske Bank be forced to sell their loan book to a functioning bank to allow customers to benefit from the options that are beginning to appear in the market?
Please see the link below of customer sentiment regarding 'Captive customers'
Mortgage rates and options for captive customers | Askaboutmoney.com - the consumer forum
[broken link removed]
Mortgage rates and options for captive customers | Askab...
The rates published by the Central Bank and by the ECB are for new customers – which includes existing mortgage holders who have a clear credit record...
View on askaboutmoney.com
Preview by Yahoo
I have also attached a letter i received from Danske Bank last year, inviting me to contact them regarding the possible options of, and i quote 'Agree a new fixed rate, continue with an SVR ( even though my current agreement at that time was fixed ) or Revert to an ECB Tracker....!!!!
I then wasted 2 weeks trying to avoid the 'cut off date' of 28th April with no call backs from Danske Bank, only to eventually be told ' You should not have received this letter'..!!
Can you imagine the stress and frustration of not only our mortgage increasing by nearly €100 overnight but that i had spent 2 weeks under the impression i could actually reduce costs..!!
I have included this to help you see the bigger picture and to help you gauge the contempt in which this Bank treats their customers, when combined with all of the above points.
I do not wish this letter to be interperated as 'poor me' as we realise we are still more fortunate than many others who have lost their homes.
However, this is an injustice and a scandalous abuse of the situation and i believe it needs to be highlighted.
I truly appreciate this opportunity to have ours and no doubt thousands of other customers concerns, heard, and hopefully addressed.
Yours Sincerely
Martin
It made me feel better that I had at least communicated my feelings instead of just sitting here getting worked up..!!
CB encouraged me to write in to help them gauge customer sentiment.
It's a step if nothing else...
Dear Sir/ Madam & Mr Noonan TD,
I appreciate you are all busy people so thankyou for allowing me to highlight my concerns regarding the negative impact of Danske Bank, here in Ireland.
Danske Bank no longer provide retail banking in Ireland, therefore are unable to provide any options or services to customers.
Danske Bank no longer provide a 'Bricks and Mortar' retail banking service, products or options.
Pepper Asset Management 'Service' the mortgages yet are unable to offer any options or services as they are not a Bank...
The only option Pepper Asset Management want to offer is 'restructuring' which for me is totally inappropriate as we pay our mortgage in full and on time. We are a good bet, not a toxic loan.
Therefore, What exactly are the 'Market Conditions'mentioned inDanske Bank mortgage contracts that can possibly justify an SVR rate of 4.95%, taking into account my points above?!
It could be perceived that Danske Bank and Pepper Asset Management are exploiting their 'Captive Audience' whereby they offer nothing yet can sit back and charge unjustifiably high rates.
Do we pay an extra 0.5% over the the perceived high rates of 4.5% charged by 'functioning Irish banks', purely to pay for Pepper Asset Management?
Why do ourselves and others like us deserve to be in this'Captive' situation and who is looking out for us and approximately 14000 otherDanske Bank customers?
Are Danske Bank & Pepper Asset Management regulated by the Central Bank?
Regardless, it could be perceived that the Government and the Central Bank are allowing this to happen and doing nothing to stop these companies exploiting solvent, honest and hard working Irish customers.
Why are we and other Danske Bank customers being discriminated against purely because we are customers of a bank that decided to exit the country?
Also, what happens if an inevitable rate increase sends many Danske Bank customers into arrears? Would this potentially be a big step backwards for the industry as a whole.?
We are terrified of an inevitable rate increase and frustrated at paying excessively high rates for the pleasure of being discriminated against, whilst the rest of the Irish banking industry are slowly starting to offer options to customers to take control of their housing situations.
Why are Danske Bank customers allowed to be treated differently and denied these opportunities?
For example, if our rate was reduced, it would enable us to pay off more of the borrowed capital and reduce our LTV so we could move to a larger house.
This could only be good for the market as a whole if like minded customers were able to do the same without being held back by Danske Bank
Purely from a business point of view, would it not be better for Danske Bank customers to be paying interest to an Irish Bank that you may be intending of selling off at some point in the future?
Can Danske Bank be forced to sell their loan book to a functioning bank to allow customers to benefit from the options that are beginning to appear in the market?
Please see the link below of customer sentiment regarding 'Captive customers'
Mortgage rates and options for captive customers | Askaboutmoney.com - the consumer forum
[broken link removed]
Mortgage rates and options for captive customers | Askab...
The rates published by the Central Bank and by the ECB are for new customers – which includes existing mortgage holders who have a clear credit record...
View on askaboutmoney.com
Preview by Yahoo
I have also attached a letter i received from Danske Bank last year, inviting me to contact them regarding the possible options of, and i quote 'Agree a new fixed rate, continue with an SVR ( even though my current agreement at that time was fixed ) or Revert to an ECB Tracker....!!!!
I then wasted 2 weeks trying to avoid the 'cut off date' of 28th April with no call backs from Danske Bank, only to eventually be told ' You should not have received this letter'..!!
Can you imagine the stress and frustration of not only our mortgage increasing by nearly €100 overnight but that i had spent 2 weeks under the impression i could actually reduce costs..!!
I have included this to help you see the bigger picture and to help you gauge the contempt in which this Bank treats their customers, when combined with all of the above points.
I do not wish this letter to be interperated as 'poor me' as we realise we are still more fortunate than many others who have lost their homes.
However, this is an injustice and a scandalous abuse of the situation and i believe it needs to be highlighted.
I truly appreciate this opportunity to have ours and no doubt thousands of other customers concerns, heard, and hopefully addressed.
Yours Sincerely
Martin
Good stuff, hopefully he'll give him the grilling he deserves but I won't be holding my breath. He does need to remind him about the fact that when you're in negative equity and high LTV that you can't switch or negotiate so basically you're trapped by the banks on high SVR. I'll try emailing him about this to make sure he asks him.