I took out a mortgage in 2005 with Bank of Ireland and was initially on a discounted variable rate for the first year.
At the end of the first year the bank wrote to me and offered me 7 different options including a variable rate, a number of fixed rates, and a Tracker rate (ECB+1.3%). I opted to go on a fixed rate for 3 years.
At the end of the three years (2009) the bank wrote to me and offered me 3 options – a variable rate, a 2 year fixed rate or a 3 year fixed rate. I opted to go for the variable rate.
My question is this: - Should I have been offered the tracker (ECB+1.3%) as well as the other 3 options when my fixed rate ended.
I ask this as I’ve read in the National Consumer Agency website the following:-
At the end of a fixed rate term, your lender will write to you and outline your options, which may include:
• moving to a standard variable rate
• fixing for another term, perhaps 1,3 or 5 years
• moving to a tracker rate - but only if this was offered to you at the time you signed up for the fixed rate. Look at the documentation your lender sent you when you signed up to a fixed rate, as this will detail what your interest rate will revert to after the fixed rate term ends. If a tracker mortgage was one of the options, then your lender must offer you the tracker rate, even if they are no longer widely available. If you do not have the documentation, contact your lender and ask for a copy.
If I had been offered the option of going on the tracker when my fixed rate term ended in 2009 I would certainly have opted for that option as the rate would have been well below the other options offered. Given that a tracker was offered to me at the time of signing up for the fixed rate, was the bank wrong not to offer me the tracker again at the end of my fixed rate?
Do I have any grounds now in going to the bank and asking to be put on this rate now?
At the end of the first year the bank wrote to me and offered me 7 different options including a variable rate, a number of fixed rates, and a Tracker rate (ECB+1.3%). I opted to go on a fixed rate for 3 years.
At the end of the three years (2009) the bank wrote to me and offered me 3 options – a variable rate, a 2 year fixed rate or a 3 year fixed rate. I opted to go for the variable rate.
My question is this: - Should I have been offered the tracker (ECB+1.3%) as well as the other 3 options when my fixed rate ended.
I ask this as I’ve read in the National Consumer Agency website the following:-
At the end of a fixed rate term, your lender will write to you and outline your options, which may include:
• moving to a standard variable rate
• fixing for another term, perhaps 1,3 or 5 years
• moving to a tracker rate - but only if this was offered to you at the time you signed up for the fixed rate. Look at the documentation your lender sent you when you signed up to a fixed rate, as this will detail what your interest rate will revert to after the fixed rate term ends. If a tracker mortgage was one of the options, then your lender must offer you the tracker rate, even if they are no longer widely available. If you do not have the documentation, contact your lender and ask for a copy.
If I had been offered the option of going on the tracker when my fixed rate term ended in 2009 I would certainly have opted for that option as the rate would have been well below the other options offered. Given that a tracker was offered to me at the time of signing up for the fixed rate, was the bank wrong not to offer me the tracker again at the end of my fixed rate?
Do I have any grounds now in going to the bank and asking to be put on this rate now?