Sir, Ref your article in Business This Week Section of, Friday 17th, on mortgages. As a long-suffering mortgage holder with AIB I thought (wrongly of course) that I might have an opportunity of breaking out of my fixed rate of 9.75 per cent but the offer the financial institutions are making applies "only if the supplied rate (fixed) is less than the current market fixed rate".
I fixed my rate back in 1993 when variable rates were hitting 17 per cent and we were all being "fleeced" by the bold Bertie. I was happy with the 9.75 per cent over 10 years as I knew what my monthly repayments would be - but nobody expected the rates to drop so dramatically.
I am 59 years old and am looking to retirement, but if I repay my mortgage I will still be subject to a breakage cost of £3,700 approximately. I have four years to run on the fixed rate 9.75 per cent, but I do feel discriminated against as a longstanding customer for whom nothing is being done.
Anyway, keep up the good work - maybe pressure will tell - I just hope I'll be around to see it (and definitely enjoy it).
Ted O'Mahoney, Co Cork.