Tracker mortgage scandal numbers stands at almost 40,000

An extra 1,400 customers affected by the tracker mortgage scandal have been identified by the Central Bank, bringing the current count to just under 40,000.

The watchdog said in its latest report on the scandal that at the end of 2018, lenders had paid out €647m to customers, an increase of €67m since August.

The numbers affected officially stand at 39,800.

The Central Bank said 97% of affected customer accounts have been identified and verified, and have now received offers of redress and compensation.

“The supervisory phases of the examination are nearing completion, with the final report expected to be published in the coming months,” the watchdog said.

Mortgage rights campaigner David Hall said it was “remarkable that no banker or director of any lender was prosecuted for this scandal” considering “the scale of theft from and damage done to customers by banks and lenders”.

The final bill for the scandal, which happened when customers were wrongly moved onto more expensive loans by more than a dozen lenders, is expected to be around €1bn between compensation and administrative costs.

The Central Bank examination began more than three years ago with two million customer accounts probed.

Read the update in full here: