The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Couple down €30k in mortgage fiasco
Bank admits ‘failure’ in not fulfilling its end of mortgage deal
DESPITE the finding of a Central Bank investigation, a bank has repeatedly failed to reinstate a Kerry couple on the tracker mortgage it promised them in 2008, in a controversy it is estimated has cost the couple €30,000 more in interest than they should have paid.
Primary teachers Paul and Corinna Favier from Glenflesk are locked in a bitter fight to secure the tracker mortgage Permanent TSB promised them as a condition of the home loan they obtained in January of 2008.
The interest rate was fixed for the first two years, after which they were supposed to have been reinstated on the much-lower tracker rate.
Permanent TSB failed to do so, however. Despite repeated attempts, including a formal appeals process, the couple - who switched to AIB in 2010 because of the debacle - are still tens of thousands out of pocket. The bank has admitted its ‘failure’ with the Central Bank now pursuing the matter.
EVEN after admitting a Kerry couple should have been moved to the tracker mortgage it promised them, Permanent TSB is still apparently refusing to fulfill its end of the deal; offering them an amount in compensation that is just a fraction of what they believe they are out of pocket.
The couple calculate they have overpaid by €30,000 as a result – in an incredible burden as they begin family life with baby son Conall.
Permanent TSB has merely offered them a fraction of what they believe they have overpaid - €3,000 in compensation and refunds.
Paul and Corinna Favier of Curraglass in Glenflesk obtained a tracker mortgage with Permanent TSB on January 30, 2008 with the rate of interest fixed for a period of two years. Under section six of the conditions of loan approval document, it was agreed they would revert to a tracker mortgage two years later - January 30, 2010. Instead, Permanent TSB failed to make good on the tracker promise, refusing the couple the tracker they thought they had obtained. They had not borrowed any further money at the time of switching and felt they had no choice but to switch their mortgage to AIB, on a rate of 3.65 per cent .
Now, on foot of a Central Bank investigation, Permanent TSB has admitted it made what it describes as a ‘failure’ in not putting the Faviers back on a tracker.
“We’ve written to them three times since clearly making our case and requesting that our tracker be reinstated, but they rejected it saying we could appeal to their ‘Customer Appeals Panel’,” Paul told The Kerryman. That appeal was rejected with the bank declining to explain its decision, merely citing the fact that it doesn’t discuss individual cases – much to the couple’s frustration.
Even with the Central Bank finding against the banks on this issue (1,400 Permanent TSB customers are in a similar boat to the Faviers as well as customers of other banks), the couple are still coming up against a brick wall.
“I guess we’re lucky in that we still have our jobs and can make our repayments. But I know of other couples who should have had their tracker mortgages reinstated and who are now homeless, having had their homes repossessed when they couldn’t make repayments,” Mr Favier told The Kerryman.
“We don’t know what to do now, the banks don’t seem to be answerable to a higher authority at all.”
The Central Bank is pursuing enforcement action against Permanent TSB on the issue.
“Maybe the Central Bank needs greater powers over the banks. If we could afford it we might be able to consider taking a case, but that’s not an option.”
In its letter of admission advising the Faviers of its ‘failure’ in July of last year, Permanent TSB wrote: “As a result of an investigation by the Central Bank of Ireland, permanent tsb has identified a failure which it made in connection with the management of certain mortgage accounts including the account identified above ]Paul Faviers’]. While the circumstances of each customer are different, a common theme is that customers who should have been able to move their permanent tsb mortgage to a tracker rate mortgage some time ago may not have done so because of a failure by permanent tsb. We apologise sincerely for this failure.”