Have you been impacted by the Tracker Mortgage Over-Charging?
A tracker mortgage gives you a contractual right to an agreed margin of interest linked to the European Central Bank’s main rate of interest. If you have been over-charged interest whereby your repayments were greater than they should have been, this would amount to a breach of contract by the Bank and you may be entitled to seek redress and compensation for same. In addition to claims for breach of contract, you may also be entitled to bring claims of negligence, unfair terms and unjust enrichment against the Bank for failure to comply with the contractual terms of your mortgage.
If you lost your home or other property through the Courts or by way of a Receiver being appointed over your property or if you sold or surrendered your home or property as a result of not being able to make repayments on your mortgage in circumstances where the repayments were higher than they should have been due to the over-charging of interest. If you wish to discuss the matter in strict confidence you can contact our banking solicitor, Dermot Caslin at Blake and Kenny Solicitors Galway, who will be able to discuss the matter in detail.
Have you been offered redress or compensation by the Bank?
If you have already accepted compensation and redress offered by your Bank, you are not prevented from seeking further and better compensation and damages as a result of the impact that the over-charging has had upon you. If there was a breach of contract then the normal statutory period of 6 years to bring a breach of contract claim.
Background
Since 2010, the Central Bank of Ireland has been investigating issues relating to tracker mortgages and as further issues began to surface, it was decided by the Central Bank that a detailed review was needed to make sure that all banks were complying with the regulations and the terms and conditions of their tracker mortgages. Towards the end of 2015, as per the Central Bank’s website, the Regulator wrote to 15 lenders setting out the framework for carrying out the Tracker Mortgage Examination.
Following the Tracker Examination by the Banks, it was determined that a number of customers were impacted by over-charging/incorrect rates being applied to their accounts and the Banks offered redress and compensation for same.
How many people have been impacted?
According to the Central Bank, as at the end of March 2018, approximately 37,000 accounts have been identified by lenders as impacted by tracker-related issues. If you are one of the many people impacted and wish to discuss the matter in more detail you can contact Blake and Kenny Solicitors to discuss the next steps available to you.
How much might I be entitled to?
According to the Central Bank, at the end of April 2018, lenders have paid €459 million in total in redress and compensation on tracker-related cases. In line with contract law, the redress payment is to return the affected customer to the position that he/she would have been in had the relevant issue not arisen i.e. had the relevant breach of contract not occurred. This involves moving the customer to the correct interest rate and refunding any overpayments made due to the lender’s error. The redress payment should take into account the fact that the customer did not have access to these funds for this period. The payment of compensation is to reflect the detriment suffered by affected customers and therefore, is in addition to the redress payment.
The impact of a customer not having access to these funds and the detriment suffered by affected customers is entirely subjective and particular to that individual customer and their individual circumstances whereby any claim would depend on how a particular customer was impacted i.e. by way of excessive stretching of their budget and the resultant impact on their quality of life.
More information
Further information is available on the Central Bank website.
Contact us
If you wish to discuss any of the above issues in strict confidence, please contact Dermot Caslin of Blake and Kenny Solicitors in Galway on 091-564340. Dermot is a Solicitor based in Galway with several years’ experience and specialises in Mortgage Litigation/Banking Law and is fully qualified to advise you of the process, the relevant legislation and the next steps for you.
*In contentious business, a solicitor may not calculate fees or other charges as a percentage or proportion of any award or settlement.