Mortgage Completed but Issues Remain

JPin

I had a mortgage with the Bank of Ireland, on the 1st of August I changed my postal address and on August 12th I paid off the balance of my mortgage. The process was difficult to complete, staff were not comfortable with what I was doing. I was then advised of additional mortgage setup charges that I needed to clear before closing the account, I told the staff that there were no such charges but BOI contested this, so I paid off the setup fees and the account balance and closed everything, staff told me the debits from my account would be canceled. When checking the fees, staff were unable to provide me with information on when they would have been communicated to me, indeed one hung up on me whilst another told me to log a complaint. As of today, I have been unable to get a response to my complaint, furthermore, BOI has continued to take mortgage payments, I flagged this to them but they denied it and stated that they cancel all money requests when a mortgage is paid off. Last week I found that BOI was continuing to send letters to my old address, BOI today responded that they do this as a matter of procedure for a short period and there are no issues here.

Does any of this sound normal? Bank of Ireland has never been the best bank in the world but even by their standards, I feel this falls short. 

Jonboy_1984

Do you still have your original mortgage illustration and offer paperwork? Have you  checked them for details of fees and if they were paid upfront or added to loan - either are common options.

Post - did you not put a redirection in place?

JPin

Jonboy_1984 said:

Do you still have your original mortgage illustration and offer paperwork? Have you  checked them for details of fees and if they were paid upfront or added to loan - either are common options.

Post - did you not put a redirection in place?

Paperwork advises that there are no fees.

I didn't do a redirection, I only had a small number of addresses to update and they were all updated with plenty of notice.

JPin

BOI responded today.

1. Advised that despite the mortgage I took having no arrangement fees, there is a £195 mortgage release fee.

2. Did not address taking additional mortgage payments after account was closed. 

3. Denied poor customer service including being hung up on. 

4. Admitted to the data protection breach and offered £100, advised that this figure was in the upper limits for such an occurrence. 

What should I do now? 

k3lvc

Not sure when your mortgage was taken out but mine, in Aug '99, had a £195 mortgage release fee clearly shown. On the basis you didn't repay this then they potentially classed it as a partial repayment so continued to take payments.

Did you ask for redemption statement before making the payment - I'd have expected that to have avoided and of the opinions you were given over the phone

More importantly to any complaint are you confident it's now cleared with the correct amounts and they've refunded any overpayments ? 

JMA74

Closing fees are fairly normal. Ranging from £80 to £250 usually.  

Direct Debits being taken the month after the account is closed is also fairly normal. Usually just gets refunded back a few weeks later.  You can cancel the direct debit if you want but most dont and the lender refunds the payment

If a direct debit is taken and you do not think it should have been then you should be contacting your bank and registering a direct debit indemnity claim

£100 compensation is probably the max that the department can offer.  Can take it further if you like.  Are you able to demonstrate any loss?

Cptralls

My understanding is that £100 for a data protection breach (assuming the mortgage company is to blame) is the minimum that would be paid, there are certainly examples of much higher figures. 

JMA74

Cptralls said:

My understanding is that £100 for a data protection breach (assuming the mortgage company is to blame) is the minimum that would be paid, there are certainly examples of much higher figures. 

you are correct that a lot more could be paid for a breach.  But there has been no impact to OP here. No loss has been noted.  And even if it gets delivered to the old address, it is an offence for that post to be opened. 

So really a £100 apology feels like a fair result

JPin

JMA74 said:

Cptralls said:

My understanding is that £100 for a data protection breach (assuming the mortgage company is to blame) is the minimum that would be paid, there are certainly examples of much higher figures. 

you are correct that a lot more could be paid for a breach.  But there has been no impact to OP here. No loss has been noted.  And even if it gets delivered to the old address, it is an offence for that post to be opened. 

So really a £100 apology feels like a fair result

The post was opened to my knowledge, and that is how I became aware of the breach - BOI did not spot it. Unsure of exactly what implications that may have down the line.

Cptralls

JPin said:

JMA74 said:

Cptralls said:

My understanding is that £100 for a data protection breach (assuming the mortgage company is to blame) is the minimum that would be paid, there are certainly examples of much higher figures. 

you are correct that a lot more could be paid for a breach.  But there has been no impact to OP here. No loss has been noted.  And even if it gets delivered to the old address, it is an offence for that post to be opened. 

So really a £100 apology feels like a fair result

The post was opened to my knowledge, and that is how I became aware of the breach - BOI did not spot it. Unsure of exactly what implications that may have down the line.

In that case £100 is too low.

user1977

JMA74 said:

Cptralls said:

My understanding is that £100 for a data protection breach (assuming the mortgage company is to blame) is the minimum that would be paid, there are certainly examples of much higher figures. 

And even if it gets delivered to the old address, it is an offence for that post to be opened. 

No, it isn't an offence to open mail delivered to your address, if it was addressed to your address. The name on it is irrelevant.