Bank of Ireland Faces Technical Glitch Allowing Overdrawn Cash Withdrawals
Admiral Loses Customers Amid Insurance Price Hikes
NatWest Faces Complaints Over Fraud Compensation Rejections
Several hours of technical glitches hit Bank of Ireland customers on Tuesday, enabling them to withdraw substantial sums from cash machines even if their accounts held little to no funds. Reports emerged of long queues at machines in the Republic of Ireland, where the bank acknowledged technical faults. On Wednesday, the bank confirmed that the issues had been resolved, although it cautioned that transfers and withdrawals would still be processed on customers’ accounts. Bank of Ireland apologised for any inconvenience caused and encouraged those facing financial difficulties to reach out for assistance.
Car insurer Admiral is grappling with a significant loss of customers due to steep price hikes, resulting in motorists paying record-high insurance costs. Despite its profits rising by 4% to approximately £234 million, the company reported a loss of 380,000 customers in the last year. Admiral’s decision to increase prices by 20% during the first half of the year was attributed to high inflation and repair expenses. Milena Mondini de Focatiis, the company’s CEO, acknowledged the challenges faced by many amid these price increases.
NatWest has come under scrutiny following a report that revealed the bank rejected more than half of the fraud compensation claims it received over a year. Of the 2,210 complaints escalated to the Financial Ombudsman Service in the year up to March, 1,193 were ultimately upheld in favour of the customers following a review. The claims included push payment scams, chip and pin fraud, and identity theft. The report highlighted that NatWest had rejected over 5,000 claims in the past three years, with around 3,300 being reversed. Santander and HSBC also ranked high for wrongly rejected claims.
