Report: Regulator probing 24 new overcharging cases

The Financial Regulator is investigating more than 24 incidents of overcharging involving financial institutions, the Irish Independent reported this morning.

The paper said none of the details of the cases have yet been made public.

New Head of Financial Regulation Matthew Elderfield, who last week successfully sought the appointment of provisional administrators to Quinn Insurance, has warned banks and insurers he would come down hard on them for overcharging.

"We are working on a number of overcharging cases that firms have notified to us under the statutory consumer protection code requirements," a spokeswoman for Mr Elderfield confirmed to the Independent..

"The majority of issues are legacy overcharging issues. However, some are more recent and have been identified as part of ongoing reviews."

AIB, MBNA, Bank of Ireland and Ulster Bank are among those institutions that have admitted to wrongly charging customers in the past.