Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 15 January 2019
182. Deputy Mary Butler asked the Minister for Finance if the review by the Central Bank of tracker mortgages has been completed in full; the expected outcome for mortgage account-holders who may have been the subject of the review; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54143/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra221. Deputy Fiona O'Loughlin asked the Minister for Finance the status of the tracker mortgage examination; the amount paid out to date for redress and compensation; when affected customers will receive payment; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1256/19]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 182 and 221 together.
The Central Bank has advised me that its Tracker Examination is focused on ensuring that lenders provide fair outcomes for all customers impacted by tracker related failings both from a contractual and transparency perspective. The Examination requires all lenders, which offered tracker interest rate mortgages to their customers, to review all mortgage accounts, including accounts in arrears, to identify any tracker related failings both from a contractual and transparency perspective.
At the Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform, and Taoiseach in October, the Governor of the Central Bank confirmed that, as of August 31st, lenders have identified circa 38,400 affected customers (including cases resolved pre-Examination following Central Bank intervention), and paid €580 million in redress and compensation. The redress and compensation phases of the Examination are now significantly advanced: 93 percent of affected customer accounts already identified and verified had received offers of redress and compensation by August 31st.
As part of the Examination framework, where customer detriment has been identified, the Central Bank has clearly articulated its expectations of lenders to provide appropriate redress and compensation to all impacted customers in line with prescribed Principles for Redress, including:
- 2.1. Redress will result in impacted customers being returned to the position that they would have been in had the relevant issue not arisen.
- 2.2. Compensation is to be reasonable and must reflect the detriment involved arising from and/or associated with being on an incorrect rate (such compensation to reflect the specific circumstances of each impacted customer).
An important part of the Examination Framework is the requirement for lenders to establish independent Appeals Panels, specifically to deal with customers who are not satisfied with any aspect of the redress and compensation offers that they receive from lenders. The appeals process is additional to the options of bringing a complaint to the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman or initiating court proceedings.
The Central Bank indicates that its supervisory review of conduct of the Tracker Examination is significantly advanced and that a further update on the Examination will be published in early 2019.
