Tracker Mortgage Decision Reference 2022-0286

Case OutcomeRejected
Reference2022-0286
Date25 August 2022
Year2022
Subject MatterTracker Mortgage
Finantial SectorBanking
Conducts Complained OfFailure to offer a tracker rate at point of sale
Decision Ref:
2022-0286
Sector:
Banking
Product / Service:
Tracker Mortgage
Conduct(s) complained of:
Failure to offer a tracker rate at point of sale
Outcome:
Rejected
LEGALLY BINDING DECISION OF THE FINANCIAL SERVICES AND PENSIONS OMBUDSMAN
Background
This complaint relates to a mortgage loan account held by the Complainants with the
Provider. The mortgage loan that is the subject of this complaint was secured on the
Complainants’ private dwelling house.
The loan amount was €269,800.00 and the term of the loan was 40 years. The Loan Offer
Letter dated 18 June 2008 provided for a three-year fixed interest rate of 5.05%.
The Complainants’ Case
The Complainants note that they drew down their mortgage loan with the Provider in June
2008, on a three-year fixed interest rate of 5.05% which then defaulted to the Provider’s
standard variable interest rate.
The Complainants detail that they were not made aware, during the mortgage application
process in 2008, that tracker interest rates were available and they “should have been
made well aware of all options available to [them]”.
- 2 -
/Cont’d…
The First Complainant submits that he made a telephone call to the Provider on 09 March
2018 as he was attempting to deal with aspects of his mortgage and obtain paperwork and
information. He also states that he enquired as to the available interest rates.
The First Complainant submits that he subsequently learned that tracker mortgages were
available when he drew down his mortgage loan in June 2008. The Complainants submit
they were “never offered [a tracker interest rate] as an option, it was only fixed or
variable.” The Complainants further detail that at the time of drawdown, a representative
of the Provider informed them that it was in their “best interest” that they were “not
offered [a tracker rate] due to the rate being 4%”.
The Complainants submit that they have been “treated very unfairly” by the Provider in
circumstances where they were not offered a tracker interest rate. The Complainants state
that as a result of not having been offered a tracker interest rate, they have only been able
to pay approximately €2,000.00 off the capital balance of the mortgage loan.
The Complainants are seeking the following:
(a) Compensation from the Provider for not being offered a tracker interest rate in
2008; and
(b) The application of a tracker interest rate to their mortgage loan account.
The Provider’s Case
The Provider submits that the Complainants applied for a mortgage loan in March 2008 by
signing a mortgage application form on 05 March 2008. The Provider submits that it issued
a Loan Offer Letter to the Complainants dated 19 March 2008, providing for a mortgage
loan of €280,250.00 over a 40-year term based on a two-year fixed interest rate of 5.02%.
The Provider details that the fixed interest rate would apply until 31 March 2010
defaulting to a variable rate thereafter.
The Provider details that the Complainants informed the Provider on 06 May 2008 that
they had decided to purchase a different property. The Provider states that it therefore
issued a new Loan Offer Letter to the Complainants on 08 May 2008. The Provider submits
that this loan offer provided for a loan amount of €280,250.00 repayable over a 40-year
term based on a two-year fixed interest rate of 5.02%. The Provider submits that the
Complainants subsequently requested the security address to be amended and that the
loan amount be reduced to €269,800.00.

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