Bank’s offer restored financial position and compensated for inconvenience

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Bank’s offer restored financial position and compensated for inconvenience

Categories:

Concerns about lending decisions,

Summary:

In July 2023, Polly asked the bank to refix the interest rate on her home loan for 18 months, but the bank mistakenly refixed it for 12 months at a higher rate. Polly discovered the error in May 2024 when the bank sent a rate renewal letter. Polly spoke to her mortgage broker, who called the bank. The bank acknowledged its error and refunded $948 in interest, as well as refixing the interest rate for another six months at the original rate, ensuring the loan was fixed for 18 months in total, as requested. The bank also gave her $2,378 as a goodwill gesture, although it initially described it as a cashback offer. Polly complained about how long it took the bank to implement the change to her loan (a total of two months), about the way the bank described the $2,378 payment, and about its handling of the complaint generally.

Published:

April 2025

Our investigation

We found that refunding the interest and refixing the loan for another six months restored Polly to her original position, meaning she suffered no financial loss. We also found the payment of $2,378 was sufficient to compensate her for the short inconvenience she suffered – even though the way the bank communicated this offer was unclear. Finally, we found the bank was not responsible for the delay in refixing the loan because Polly did not respond to the bank’s numerous attempts to get her consent to proceed with the change.