Thousands of Ulster Bank mortgages impacted by error

Ulster Bank is to write to tens of thousands of current and former mortgage holders to inform them of an issue which may have impacted the amount of interest they have paid and the phasing of repayments.

The problem arose from a system generated error the bank said and was only discovered during its ongoing phased withdrawal from the Republic of Ireland market.

The lender said in most cases the impact on customers was minimal, but in some cases repayments were spread over a term up to two months longer or shorter than the mortgage contract stated.

"The average additional mortgage interest impact for customers is c.€50," a spokesperson said in a statement.

"The error did not impact the interest rate applied or the total amount of capital owed."

"To rectify this, Ulster Bank will make a payment to address the issue."

It is understood that the issue, first reported by the Irish Independent, did not impact the amount of capital owed or the interest rate applied to the mortgage.

As part of its exit from this country, Ulster Bank sold most of its mortgages to PTSB and AIB but had previously sold some mortgage to funds and credit servicers.

The bank is working with those other institutions and customers do not need to contact them

Instead, Ulster Bank said it will contact all current and former customers who are impacted by the issue on a phased basis over the coming months to explain what happened and how it will fix it.

It is thought up to 90,000 mortgages may have been impacted and these are being reviewed.