The Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman (FSPO) has published details of 180 legally binding decisions his office made in the first five months of this year.

Ombudsman Ger Deering (pictured) said he understood that around 7,000 customers across a number of banks would benefit from a small number of his rulings on complaints about tracker mortgages.

“Increasingly, providers are applying my decisions to groups of customers who are in similar circumstances to those who have received decisions from the FSPO, even if they have not themselves made complaints to the FSPO,” he said.

Overcharging

The decisions published today (7 August) include compensation of €22,000 due to “particularly difficult circumstances suffered” as a result of significant overcharging resulting from the denial of a tracker mortgage interest rate.

The ombudsman also urged consumers to inform themselves about what information is held about them on credit databases.

This follows a number of complaints about inaccurate or incorrect information being added to a customer’s credit profile.

Errors

"While errors can occur, it is evident from some of the complaints we have received that such situations have been exacerbated by the failure of the providers to rectify the error,” said Mr Deering, who called on financial firms to be careful in their reporting and to remedy mistakes quickly.

In one decision this year, the FSPO awarded compensation of €10,000 after a lender failed to correct a customer’s credit profile, following a credit card being issued in the customer’s name without his knowledge or permission.

Publication

Of the legally binding decisions issued between January and May this year, 72 were either fully, substantially or partially upheld and 127 were not upheld.

This is the fourth time the FSPO has published decisions since the Oireachtas gave the office the legal power to do so under the Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman Act 2017. The legislation, however, does not provide for the publication of decisions in relation to pension complaints.