BANKS OF HORROR; CREDIT CRUNCH CRISIS Financial Ombudsman JoeMeade fights your corner as complaints about dodgy dealings soar to record 6,000.Byline: BY AINE AINE Antiinflamatorio No Esteroideo (Spanish: nonsteroidal antiinflammatory) HEGARTY POLITICAL EDITOR COMPLAINTS about dodgy dodgy - Synonym with flaky. Preferred outside the US dealings by banks and insurance companies jumped by a third last year to a record of 6,000. Financial Ombudsman Joe Meade said there was a huge surge in horror stories from people claiming they had been "conned" into risky investments and lost their savings. Overall complaints rose by 36 per cent in 2008 with the ombudsman ruling in favour of consumers in six out 10 cases. But Mr Meade warned this year is set to be a bumper one for complaints as the credit crunch Credit Crunch An economic condition whereby investment capital is difficult to obtain. Banks and investors become weary of lending funds to corporations thereby driving up the price of debt products for borrowers. hits home. He said there were 1,600 complaints filed in the final quarter of last year. The largest award was for EUR EUR In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Euro. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. 500,000 to a credit union for losing EUR1million of members money in a "worthless" bond investment. Mr Meade lashed credit union bosses for signing up to the product "blind" without reading the brochure. He also hit out at the broker who sold the investment bond saying he had failed to inform the union that they could lose their total outlay. The ombudsman said: "The investment turned out to be a disaster." He ordered the broker to refund half the value of the bond and all fees and commissions. The credit union has launched an appeal to the High Court. Mr Meade lashed Anglo Irish over the EUR87million loan by boss Sean FitzPatrick Sean Brian Thomas Fitzpatrick (born 4 June 1963 in Auckland) was a New Zealand rugby union player, widely regarded as one of the finest players ever to come from that country. Early life Sean Fitzpatrick's high school education was at Sacred Heart College, Auckland. . He added: "If this is indicative of what happens at the top, it could be the reason why complaints have increased against the financial sector." CREDIT CARD Bank too slow to spot s1.8k lapdance fraud THE ombudsman ruled in favour of a businessman who claimed he was the victim of credit card fraud Credit card fraud is a wide-ranging term for theft and fraud committed using a credit card or any similar payment mechanism as a fraudulent source of funds in a transaction. The purpose may be to obtain goods without paying, or to obtain unauthorized funds from an account. while enjoying dances at a lapdancing club. Mr Meade ordered the bank to repay EUR1,850 to the reveller after EUR4,300 worth of transactions went through his card at a Brussels club in the early hours of the morning. But the businessman's rather expensive night ended up costing him EUR2,450. The businessman said he had "a few beers and paid for two dances at EUR50 each". He got an unpleasant surprise when he returned to Ireland and received his credit card statement showing payments of EUR2,550 at the club and debits of EUR1,750. The man claimed he was a victim of fraud but his bank suggested he had negligently revealed his pin numbers to staff at the club. The audit trail revealed two credit card transactions for EUR50 each took place at 2.45am and 3.16am. Then at 3.28am a transaction of EUR2,350 went through followed by debits of EUR450 at 2.37am and two of EUR850 at 2.48am and 3.21am. The Ombudsman ruled the bank's fraud detection system should have kicked in sooner to stop the EUR2,350 transaction which came only 12 minutes after the second EUR50. DURESS Insurer bullied man to buy s1,520 policy IN another shocking case, a 60-year-old farmer was driven by an insurance sales rep to an ATM to withdraw EUR1,520 for a health protection policy that he didn't need while the another sales rep waited at his farm. Mr Meade ruled the man took out the policy "under duress" as he was put under pressure by a two-man team. He also adjudicated that the insurance agents acted "in a highly improper manner" and had sold the farmer a policy that was "inappropriate" to his needs. Even though the firm had already refunded the complainant A plaintiff; a person who commences a civil lawsuit against another, known as the defendant, in order to remedy an alleged wrong. An individual who files a written accusation with the police charging a suspect with the commission of a crime and providing facts to support the allegation , it ordered them to pay him a further EUR1,500 in compensation for "distress" caused. INVESTMENT Broker hit for s70k in bad advice case IN another case involving a failed investment bond, the ombudsman directed a broker to repay EUR70,000 for giving bad advice to a couple on a EUR110,000 investment. Mr Meade said: "The investment was a complete failure and the complainants lost the entirety of their investment." He found the broker, who is appealing this decision to the High Court, had totally understated the risk involved. Mr Meade rejected the case made by a furious farmer who lost EUR1million on another failed investment bond. The ombudsman said the investor was aware that he could lose all of his money when he signed up to the high-risk product so he wasn't entitled to compensation. NEGLIGENT EUR6,700 refunded for honeymoon scam MR Meade also ordered that EUR6,700 be refunded to a man who was defrauded while on honeymoon in South Africa South Africa, Afrikaans Suid-Afrika, officially Republic of South Africa, republic (2005 est. pop. 44,344,000), 471,442 sq mi (1,221,037 sq km), S Africa. . The ombudsman ruled against the bank because it had noticed unusual activity on the man's card in an area notorious for credit card fraud but failed to take action. He also ordered an insurer to pay EUR325,000 to a man seriously injured in a "horrific accident" in which his two friends died. The company had argued he did not qualify for the payment under the criteria for "loss of independence" but this was over-ruled by the ombudsman. The ombudsman also ordered that EUR250,000 invested by a retired teacher in a property fund be returned because she was never told it was a high-risk venture. The teacher's investment had plummeted to just EUR100,000 in a year. MISTAKE EUR67,000 in compo com·po n. pl. com·pos Any of various combined substances, such as mortar or plaster, formed by mixing ingredients. [Short for composition.] for home title deeds loss A BANK was ordered to pay an angry customer EUR47,000 in compensation and EUR20,000 in legal fees after it lost the deeds to their house for more than 20 years. Another bank was forced to refund EUR74,000 to a solicitor who was defrauded when a year-old cheque for EUR111,000 was cashed and paid out by his bank. In another case, a bank had to pay out EUR52,000 after a husband came into a bank and forged his wife's signature on a "medium risk" EUR100,000 investment policy the value of which collapsed to just EUR68,000. Mr Meade ruled the wife had not been able to make an informed decision regarding this investment and awarded her EUR52,000. FAILED TO ACT Pensioner PENSIONER. One who is supported by an allowance at the will of another. It is more usually applied to him who receives an annuity or pension from the government. has EUR7,500 life savings returned MR Meade also ordered that a bank refund EUR6,100 to a pensioner after her life savings of EUR7,500 were stolen from her account. The elderly lady did not want an ATM card An ATM card (also known as a bank card, client card, or cash card) is an ISO 7810 card issued by a bank, credit union or building society. Its primary uses are: The pensioner kept her bank card and pin number together in her purse and both were stolen and her account cleared out. The ombudsman said the bank had failed to pick up daily withdrawals of EUR700 for 11 consecutive days with the pensioner's card. If this is what happens at the top it explains rise in complaints Broker failed to warn total investment could be lost.. a disaster CAPTION(S): ON HIS GUARD Ombudsman Joe Meade |
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