The Central Bank has advised that errors by lenders (and other regulated financial services firms) are monitored by the Central Bank through a number of supervisory tools, including on-site inspection work and through the statutory requirement imposed on lenders to notify the Central Bank of certain errors within timeframes prescribed by the Consumer Protection Code. All such errors, including those related to mortgage accounts, are thoroughly analysed and monitored by the Central Bank to ensure that they are fully resolved, with customers notified and refunded promptly, systems’ failures corrected and controls implemented to prevent a recurrence of the error. The Central Bank considers each error on its own merits, with the overarching objective of protecting consumers’ interests, including ensuring that they are not left out of pocket.
While the Central Bank cannot comment on individual interactions with regulated entities it can confirm that, as required by the Central Bank’s statutory Consumer Protection Code, it was notified by the particular bank referred to by the Deputy of a substantial under-collection error. The bank confirmed that the error affected approximately 1,300 accounts with a total of approximately €41 million under collected from customers. The error was as a result of a failure to move customers to full capital and interest payments after the initial interest only period on their mortgage expired. A number of repayment options were afforded to customers at that time. This error was monitored by the Central Bank to its resolution. However, any customer who is not satisfied with how they were treated by the bank continue to be entitled to make a complaint to the particular institution regarding the error. However, if the customer is not satisfied by the outcome at that level then they can make a complaint to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman.
The Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO) has also advised that section 72 of the Central Bank (Supervision and Enforcement) Act 2013, gave the FSPO the power to publish reports identifying regulated financial service providers who have had at least three complaints against them substantiated or partly substantiated. The Ombudsman published a list of such providers in his Annual Review each year since 2014 and the Ombudsman proposes to continue to publish a list of financial service providers that in any financial year have 3 or more complaints relating to a financial service upheld, substantially upheld or partially upheld.
