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A woman who was refused a car loan because of her age has been awarded €2,000 in compensation after the Equality Tribunal ruled in her favour.

The Equality Authority today welcomed the finding of age discrimination in the case against Ulster Bank, which was taken under the Equal Status Acts.

An equality officer at the tribunal found that Ulster Bank had discriminated against the complainant, Phyllis Fahey (73), by refusing her application for a car loan because she was over 65 years of age.

The tribunal ordered the bank to pay Ms Fahey  €2,000 in compensation for the upset and humiliation experienced.

The triibunal heard that Ms Fahey telephoned the Ulster Bank in Maynooth on February 15th, 2005 to enquire about taking out a car loan of €6,000.

Ms Fahey, who was 70  at the time she made the application, had been a customer of the Maynooth branch of Ulster Bank for the previous ten years.

She claimed that she was informed by a bank official that the branch manager had stated that it was bank policy not to grant loans to anybody over the age of 65. The refusal meant that Ms Fahey had to contact the car dealership where she had earlier put down a deposit on a new car in order to cancel the order.

At the tribunal, Ulster Bank denied that Ms Fahey was informed by any of its officials that it operated a policy of not affording loans to persons over 65. However, the equality officer found that Ms Fahey had given a more accurate account of the conversation and he was satisfied that she was left in no doubt that her application for a car loan was refused on the basis of her age.

The equality officer found that the respondent did not adhere to its stated loan application procedures and that Ms Fahey was not invited for an interview to discuss her application.

He ruled that Ulster Bank had discriminated against Ms Fahey on the age ground under the Equal Status Acts.

Welcoming the ruling today, Niall Crowley, chief executive officer of the Equality Authority, said the case drew attention to the ageism experienced by many older people.

“Allegations of discrimination on the basis of age limits are a significant feature in the casefiles of the Equality Authority. Age limits are a significant barrier to the participation of older people in employment and to their access to a range of services including those of financial institutions”. 

Age Action also welcomed the ruling, which was made on August 18th.