First I just wanted to say a massive thank you to Brendan, because without him this never would’ve happened nor would I have been kept so informed and up to date about everything that was going on.
I took out my mortgage in 2008 and fixed for 3 years at a rate of 5.2%. 6 months later the market crashed and mortgage rates, especially tracker rates, decreased hugely, but I was still paying 5.2% - the consequence of an uneducated Mortgage decision.
When the tracker mortgage scandal broke I became very aware of it, like most Irish people, but did not realise it applied to me. In March 2018, out of the blue, I got a letter from AIB with a cheque for €1615 explaining that they had committed a “service failure” by not offering me a tracker mortgage after my first fixed term period ended. They told me that I had suffered no real loss because had they offered me a tracker it would’ve been 7.9%. The letter and they’re explanation seemed very plausible at the time, especially to someone uneducated in financial services. I was so happy with this unexpected cheque that I didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth especially when I didn’t even realise I was effected by the tracker mortgage scandal.
About 9/10 months later, I heard Brendan Burgess on the radio explaining that the “plausible” argument put forward by AIB was not very plausible at all. He outlined his argument in such an articulate and easy to understand manner that I soon began questioning my initial estimation of AIBs letter. I joined the askaboutmoney forum where Brendan had laid out his argument and given a step-by-step guide (essentially a dummies guide to) to put in an appeal to Independent Appeals Panel.
It ended up being a long drawn out process but Brendan and askaboutmoney users were there every step of the way to offer guidance, support and advice. Had it not been for Brendan’s frequent updates about what was going on I don’t think any of us would have had a clue about what the state of play was. And needless to say I definitely would not have known why last night there was a capital reduction taken off my mortgage by AIB. I’ve had no contact from AIB whatsoever and the amount taken off would appear to be an extremely random amount if you were unaware of the FSPO ruling and the 12%. Had it not been for Brendan, I would’ve been so confused by this reduction last night considering zero contact from AIB.
This capital reduction will reduce my monthly repayments by over €200. This is very welcome especially in a time of financial uncertainty due to COVID 19. It would’ve been nice if AIB had kept me informed or even told me about this. Considering their “customers first”motto, I find it appalling how they’ve treated this cohort who have only ever looked for AIB to right the wrong that they made. Thank you again Brendan and all the askaboutmoney users for fighting this good fight, keeping us informed and offering the much needed support and guidance that AIB were obviously so lacking.
I took out my mortgage in 2008 and fixed for 3 years at a rate of 5.2%. 6 months later the market crashed and mortgage rates, especially tracker rates, decreased hugely, but I was still paying 5.2% - the consequence of an uneducated Mortgage decision.
When the tracker mortgage scandal broke I became very aware of it, like most Irish people, but did not realise it applied to me. In March 2018, out of the blue, I got a letter from AIB with a cheque for €1615 explaining that they had committed a “service failure” by not offering me a tracker mortgage after my first fixed term period ended. They told me that I had suffered no real loss because had they offered me a tracker it would’ve been 7.9%. The letter and they’re explanation seemed very plausible at the time, especially to someone uneducated in financial services. I was so happy with this unexpected cheque that I didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth especially when I didn’t even realise I was effected by the tracker mortgage scandal.
About 9/10 months later, I heard Brendan Burgess on the radio explaining that the “plausible” argument put forward by AIB was not very plausible at all. He outlined his argument in such an articulate and easy to understand manner that I soon began questioning my initial estimation of AIBs letter. I joined the askaboutmoney forum where Brendan had laid out his argument and given a step-by-step guide (essentially a dummies guide to) to put in an appeal to Independent Appeals Panel.
It ended up being a long drawn out process but Brendan and askaboutmoney users were there every step of the way to offer guidance, support and advice. Had it not been for Brendan’s frequent updates about what was going on I don’t think any of us would have had a clue about what the state of play was. And needless to say I definitely would not have known why last night there was a capital reduction taken off my mortgage by AIB. I’ve had no contact from AIB whatsoever and the amount taken off would appear to be an extremely random amount if you were unaware of the FSPO ruling and the 12%. Had it not been for Brendan, I would’ve been so confused by this reduction last night considering zero contact from AIB.
This capital reduction will reduce my monthly repayments by over €200. This is very welcome especially in a time of financial uncertainty due to COVID 19. It would’ve been nice if AIB had kept me informed or even told me about this. Considering their “customers first”motto, I find it appalling how they’ve treated this cohort who have only ever looked for AIB to right the wrong that they made. Thank you again Brendan and all the askaboutmoney users for fighting this good fight, keeping us informed and offering the much needed support and guidance that AIB were obviously so lacking.
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of sticking on the mortgage and the cost would be offset by the end of the original fixed term by the savings made.