Ulster Bank owner outlines ‘refund plans’ for UK customers

Ulster Bank customers are unlikely to receive compensation in addition to covering costs caused by the bank’s computer crisis, if the wider RBS Group’s plan is followed.

In an open letter to Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest yesterday, the group’s chief executive Stephen Hester outlined what he termed “refund plans” for the firms.

However, despite public statements in recent days of how customers whose work and private lives have been damaged by the banking scandal will receive compensation, this was not outlined.

“We are now beginning the job of putting things right for customers who were unfairly impacted by this problem. We don’t expect credit — this is a necessary step,” he wrote in an open letter to British customers.

“In the coming days, we will be adjusting the accounts of affected customers to put them back to where they would have been had this problem not occurred.

“As well as automatically refunding unfair fees or charges, we will credit any interest they were wrongly charged or should have earned.

“We will ensure no customer’s credit rating is affected as a result of this incident... And to give peace of mind, we’re also writing to these customers with details of how they can receive a free credit check.

“The next step is to put things right for people who faced knock-on costs during the systems delay. Those who incurred extra costs will be reimbursed, whether they are our customers or not.”

These moves were put forward by all three firms in the RBS Group at the start of the crisis. At the time, they were widely rejected by customers as covering costs caused by the banks and not involving compensation.

Plans for Ulster Bank have yet to be finalised as the issue affecting the Irish operation is more complex and lasted longer than the situation in Britain.

However, Ulster Bank CEO Jim Brown said last week that any charges or extra costs accrued by customers during the crisis would be covered — only adding that extra compensation payments are still being considered.

Meanwhile, on the 22nd day of the Ulster Bank problems, the firm said the “majority” of its systems were showing up-to-date account balances.

However, a spokesperson added that “some items, such as cheques, manual lodgements and some payments, have yet to be processed and therefore will not be reflected in account balances”.

* Updates on opening hours are available at www.ulsterbank.ie