Tracker scandal results in €683m payouts

BANKS paid €683million in compensation for the tracker mortgage scandal which resulted in 99 people losing their homes – but critics have hit out at the banks who have yet to pay up.

The Central Bank, which published the final report of its Tracker Mortgage Examination yesterday, has also been criticised for alleged complicity in sanctioning low payout offers by banks to wronged customers.

The regulator said the ‘supervisory’ element of its investigation was now over. It showed 40,100 customers were affected, with one lender, PTSB, fined a record €21million. But it faced calls not to close the inquiry ‘prematurely’ because thousands of cases have yet to be resolved.

Fianna Fáil finance spokesman Michael McGrath said the Central Bank has signed off on its inquiry ‘prematurely’, accusing some lenders of lack of co-operation.

Some 6,000 AIB customers have still to have their cases resolved, he added. ‘In closing their Tracker Mortgage Examination, the Central Bank has essentially come down on the side of the banks in respect of all cases that remain in dispute,’ he said.

David Hall, of the Irish Mortgage Holders’ Organisation, said: ‘The banks stole from customers and lied. The 99 people who lost their homes had their world turned upside down, as did the 40,000 account-holders, which is nearly 200,000 people.’ He added with the Central Bank’s blessing the banks had tried to offer small sums in compensation to people who had lost their homes.