Ulster Bank begins refunding overcharged customers
has started to refund mortgage customers who were overcharged due to errors in the application of interest to their accounts.
The lender, which returned its banking licence to the
Central Bank
recently, has written to affected customers, setting out the refunds to which they are entitled.
It is understood that some 90,000 mortgage accounts were affected by the errors. The mortgages are now held by AIB, PTSB and vulture funds after the NatWest-owned lender sold its loan books in advance of its exit from the Republic, which it announced in 2021.
A spokesman for Ulydien DAC, Ulster Bank's remaining Irish entity, said it is writing to customers who may have been impacted by the errors.
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'Contact has been under way to provide a detailed explanation of the issue, the corrective actions being taken and the specifics of the payments to each customer,' he said.
'Ulydien is working closely with all financial institutions who have purchased and/or are servicers of Ulydien mortgage portfolios to rectify the matter. The payment that is being made to customers ensures that no current or former customer is out of pocket as a result of this issue.'
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Ulydien, which is continuing to function in the State as a retail credit firm, confirmed late last month that it had handed back its banking licence after 165 years in the Republic.
The Central Bank last year authorised the new subsidiary to act as a service company over a trust set up to hold unclaimed funds of former customers' closed accounts and products, according to its latest annual report.
Migration of these funds to the trust ensures that unclaimed customer balances are safeguarded and available to beneficial owners should they seek to reclaim them in the future, the report said.
Unclaimed funds of less than €100 in individual accounts were given to charity, though the owners retain a right to reclaim their money.
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