Percy first complained to the bank about these matters in 2019, and said a staff member told him he had been overcharged interest and would be refunded.  However, the refund never eventuated, and the staff member left the bank. Percy did not receive a satisfactory response to his complaint, despite making numerous follow-up enquiries over the next five years. In 2024, he asked us to consider his complaint.

Our investigation

We reviewed the bank’s response to Percy’s complaints. We found the bank had given him incomplete and confusing information and had not followed a proper process when it responded to his complaint in 2019. It should have given a clear response within a reasonable timeframe and told him about his right to contact our office, but it failed to do either.

We eventually gathered enough information about the lending to be satisfied the bank had not made any errors with the loans or overdraft facility, and had also not overcharged interest on them. However, the bank had failed to explain to Percy its approach to extending the term of loans and the loan deductions – an approach we found confusing – and it made no diary notes detailing its approach. We could therefore understand Percy’s confusion, as well as his frustration at the five-year delay in receiving a proper response.

Outcome

The bank accepted that its communication and complaint-handling were unsatisfactory and offered Percy a letter acknowledging its shortcomings, along with a payment of $13,000 to compensate him for stress and inconvenience and to cover the interest and charges incurred on the transactional account as a result of the loan deductions. Percy accepted the bank’s offer.