The IMHO has written to 4,200 customers of AIB, encouraging them to “come forward” if they believe they are entitled to make AIB tracker mortgage claims.
In the letter to AIB customers last week, David Hall – the chief executive of the Irish Mortgage Holders Organization – wrote that customers should have been offered tracker mortgages when their fixed rate mortgage agreements expired in a scenario similar to that which occurred at the Permanent TSB.
Mr Hall said that customers who believe they were “denied their contractual right” to a tracker mortgage should “come forward” and make AIB tracker mortgage claims in order to recover their overpayments and ensure they were on the best possible deal going forward.
Although the bank denies that customers are entitled to make AIB tracker mortgage claims, Mr Hall says that three AIB mortgage holders have received offers of compensation from the bank after having their cases investigated. He told the Irish Times:
“Indeed, we are aware of a number of cases within AIB where customers have been returned to their tracker rate, along with a refund of overcharged interest, having been denied the rate for a number of years”.
Who is Entitled to Make AIB Tracker Mortgage Claims?
Prior to 2008, AIB gave customers three options for when their fixed rate mortgage agreements expired. The choice was:
- Either extend the fixed rate mortgage agreement,
- Convert to a variable interest rate mortgage, or
- Convert to a mortgage on a tracker interest rate.
Customers who failed to express a preference – or who were not told about the choice of options available to them – were automatically converted to a variable interest rate mortgage. In 2008, AIB scrapped the tracker interest rate option, as it was losing money for the bank.
Customers who were denied – or not informed about – the tracker rate option ended up paying one of the most expensive mortgage interest rates in the Eurozone, costing some families up to €12,500 per year in extra mortgage repayments. Consumer groups have criticized AIB for a lack of commitment to its customers, and now the IMHO is encouraging mortgage holders to make AIB tracker mortgage claims.
UPDATE March 2016.
The AIB´s 2015 Annual Report revealed that the bank had made a €105 million provision relating to the Central Bank of Ireland’s sector-wide redress programme for tracker mortgage customers. More than 3,000 customers will be eligible to make AIB tracker mortgage claims, with the average compensation-per-house-hold estimated to be €65,000.
You can read more about this development > here < or call our specialist tracker mortgage redress team on 1-800 844 303 for advice on how to make AIB tracker mortgage claims.