Bank of Ireland has refunded €1 million to more than 1,500 customers after an internal review discovered they had taken out credit card insurance on which they could not make a claim.
The payment comes to an average of €660 per customer. The issue was revealed by RTÉ after Bank of Ireland customers contacted the station’s Consumer Show. The product, Payment Protection Insurance (PPI), covers repayments on loans, mortgages and credit cards if people fall ill or lose their jobs. It has emerged that some people were sold the insurance even though they had no income and could not make a claim.
The bank says it has now changed its systems to ensure only those entitled to take out the insurance can buy it.
In a statement issued last night, the bank confirmed it had issued refunds to 1,514 credit card PPI customers. It said that it was the bank’s policy to constantly check and issue refunds of fair value.
The results of a Central Bank review of 276,000 PPI policies sold in 2008 and 2009 is due out at the end of this year. Last month AIB said it was to refund over €3.1 in payment protection insurance premiums to 11,500 customers.