2023-09-22 14:33:15
Now they’ve been told it will cost them more if they decide to ditch the trackers and stick to fixed prices.
Some 33,000 mortgage accounts were transferred to AIB from Ulster Bank in July.
But it has now been discovered that another 10,000 mortgages are still with Ulster Bank and have not yet been transferred to AIB.
“Approximately 10,000 customer accounts have not yet been converted and it was always anticipated that these customer accounts would be converted at a later date,” AIB said.
Yesterday, Ulster Bank announced a 0.75 percentage point increase in the interest rate on its remaining fixed rate products.
The new rates will apply to two- and four-year fixed-rate mortgages, as well as the four-year fixed-rate green mortgage. The seven-year fixed price will be removed from the sale. These changes are effective immediately.
Tracker mortgages have become more expensive after 10 interest rate increases by the European Central Bank.
Variable rates are not affected by this increase.
The transfer of mortgages from Ulster Bank to the Asian Investment Bank, after a €5.7bn sale deal was agreed, has been plagued with problems.
Earlier this month, AIB was forced to offer a four-month moratorium to thousands of mortgage customers who moved to it from Ulster Bank due to the European Central Bank’s latest interest rate rise.
Around 33,000 mortgage accounts transferred to AIB from Ulster Bank in July will benefit from a freeze on interest rate rises, the bank said.
AIB has also struggled to make mortgage payments for former Ulster Bank customers.
The freeze on interest rate rises comes after the bank was forced to change course last month. He wrote to several former Ulster Bank customers, wrongly telling them that monthly payments would have to increase to €600 a month.
She removed the message and said it was a mistake, Irish Independent exclusively revealed.
AIB has canceled Ulster Bank tracked mortgage direct debits
It later emerged that a small number of former Ulster Bank tracker customers had had their direct debits cancelled. These direct debits are set up to pay off mortgages.
AIB said the four-month postponement was “in recognition of the confusion and concern these customers may have caused by a letter they received last month”.
The announcement means that the higher payments that were due to start from next month, following the European Central Bank’s last interest rate hike in July, will not occur until February next year. The decision will cost the Asian Investment Bank several million euros.
The four-month moratorium means homeowners with affected mortgages will save money on their monthly payments. The amount of these savings depends on the amount owed and the time remaining on the mortgage.
For someone who has about 10 years left and an outstanding mortgage balance of around 120,000 euros, the savings would be equivalent to about 14 euros per month, or 56 euros in total.
AIB confirmed that there will be no cost or refund of payments to customers for these deferrals.
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