Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 23 July 2020
105. Deputy Michael Healy-Rae asked the Minister for Finance if he will address a matter (details supplied) regarding a letter of apology sent by a bank; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17753/20]
View answerAs the Deputy has indicated, this was an administrative error which resulted in an erroneous entry in the Irish Credit Bureau (ICB). Customers learned of this when the bank wrote informing them that the issue had been resolved. I would encourage any customer with concerns to contact the bank directly on the dedicated customer helpline that EBS has set up to assist and advise customers. Furthermore, if customers are unhappy after engaging with the bank, they can refer the matter to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO) to have it independently investigated. The role of the FSPO is to independently and impartially investigate and resolve disputes between consumers and regulated financial service providers. There is no charge for bringing a complaint to the FSPO.
Officials in my Department contacted the bank directly and received the following response:
"EBS has recently written to some customers regarding a mistake we made in the past that required an amendment to be made to their Irish Credit Bureau (ICB) record. The issue impacted a group of accounts where the customer’s ICB credit record overstated the number of missed payments on their mortgage account by one. In our letter we have apologised for our mistake and ask, where customers require additional information, to call our dedicated helpline number. We have informed the Central Bank of Ireland of this issue and we have taken steps to prevent this from happening again."
The Central Bank does not have a statutory role in investigating individual consumer complaints; however, it uses information that it receives directly from consumers to guide the scope of its broader supervisory work. Officials in my department contacted the Central Bank on this issue and received the following response:
"The Central Bank of Ireland (“Central Bank”) is aware of the error. The Central Bank expects all firms to have adequate systems and controls in place and where issues that affect customers arise, they should be addressed and rectified, with the overarching objective of protecting consumers’ interests, including ensuring that they are not left out of pocket. Firms must also communicate clearly and promptly with affected customers and ensure that any identifiable loss is remediated. Any customer who considers that they have been affected by this error, should contact the firm directly. "
