Over 150,000 Irish People Missing Out On Savings Of Up To €10,000 According To Central Bank Research

Darragh Berry

After all, it’s better to have that money in your own pocket rather than in someone else’s.

RTÉ is reporting that the Central Bank has found that nearly 30,000 Irish people could save €10,000 by just switching their mortgage while Fianna Fáil have said that over 150,000 mortgage holders would save money by switching their mortgage to another lender.

The Central Bank has told banks and building societies to give their customers more info about saving when it comes to switching from your current mortgage arrangements.

Research conducted by the Central Bank states that one in five of those surveyed could save money and that 27,000 people could save more than €10,000 by doing so.

The Central Bank has changed the 2012 Consumer Protection Code and now lenders are required to:

Tell consumers of cheaper options at least sixty days before their fixed rate mortgage ends.
Tell them if they can switch to a cheaper mortgage rate based on how much equity they have in their home (usually below 80% and 50% cheaper rates are available)
If they are asked, they must give a comparison of the total mortgage costs compared with other mortgages available from the same bank, and provide a link to the Consumer Protection Commission website, which has a comparison tool for all mortgage products on the market.
Give customers all information needed to switch mortgages, including how long the process will take.
Lenders must make a decision within ten business days of receiving a completed mortgage application.

Deputy McGrath commented on the matter by saying, “In truth, the measures announced by the Central Bank today are very modest. However, the new measures may help to raise awareness of the very significant savings thousands of mortgage holders could make if they switched their mortgage. Banks in Ireland are benefitting from the inertia of some consumers and collectively we need to change this.

“With almost 730,000 principal dwelling home mortgage accounts in Ireland, the finding in today’s research – based on a large sample – that some 21% of borrowers could save money by switching means that over 150,000 mortgage holders are paying more every month than they need to.

“I would urge every all mortgage holders to examine what interest rate they are on and whether they could get a better deal.