Fourteen AIB customers may have lost homes over error

Fourteen AIB mortgage account holders may have lost their homes by not having the correct tracker rate applied to their loans, the bank's chief executive, Bernard Byrne, has admitted.

They were all owner-occupied properties and Mr Byrne told the Oireachtas finance committee yesterday that this was the bank's best current "assessment" of the number.

He said AIB had written to 2,600 mortgage customers to inform them that they were overcharged by being denied a tracker rate in the past. This move follows a look at its entire mortgage book as part of an industry-wide review ordered by the Central Bank.

Failure

The regulator’s move was designed to unearth cases where borrowers might have been denied a lower tracker interest rate after the crash in 2008.

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Mr Byrne said the customers affected would have their rates changed and balances amended, and would receive financial compensation. This work would continue into early 2017.

AIB has set aside €190 million to cover the costs associated with the issue.

To date, Bank of Ireland has not provided any details on how many of its customers might be affected by the tracker issue.

Last year, Permanent TSB admitted a "failure" in relation to 1,372 mortgage account holders who had been denied a tracker rate. It has so far paid €80 million in redress.

It is understood that additional cases could emerge at PTSB from the Central Bank’s review.