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Bank of Ireland’s green car loan that seemed to vanish in a puff of smoke

Pricewatch: A reader called Brendan was none too happy when he contacted us to detail his dealings with his bank when looking for car finance

'One piece of evidence required [from the bank] was a letter from the seller, providing details of the car, in addition to the selling price and signature. In this case the car is a private sale Tesla Model 3,' a hopeful car buyer writes. Photograph: Leonhard Simon/Getty
'One piece of evidence required [from the bank] was a letter from the seller, providing details of the car, in addition to the selling price and signature. In this case the car is a private sale Tesla Model 3,' a hopeful car buyer writes. Photograph: Leonhard Simon/Getty
Conor Pope's picture
Conor Pope
Thu Aug 29 2024 - 08:00

How annoyed would you be if you were given the green light from your bank for a car loan, found a car you wanted and could afford – with the help of the loan – only to have the deal collapse at the last second because the once agreeable bank suddenly decided to impose a precondition that you found absolutely impossible to fulfil?

You’d be pretty miffed, right? A reader called Brendan certainly was when he contacted us to detail his dealings with a bank, which appeared to let him down badly.

“I applied online for a green car loan of €20,000 with Bank of Ireland at a rate of 6.5 per cent,” his mail begins. “One piece of evidence required was a letter from the seller, providing details of the car, in addition to the selling price and signature. In this case the car is a private sale Tesla Model 3,” he says.

The good news is he was accepted for the loan and provided with documents to sign online, which he did.

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Between all the jigs and the reels he managed to sell his diesel car privately – and somewhat unexpectedly – and did not need as much money for his new EV as he thought he would. “I made contact with the loans application team to reduce the loan request to €17,000,” he writes.

[ Average green loan more than twice as big as regular personal loan, BPFI says ]

Given that he had been approved for a €20k loan, he just assumed he would also be approved for a €17k one at the same rate of interest – but he was wrong.

“I received a phone call this morning from Bank of Ireland to say that I no longer qualify for the green car loan interest rate of 6.5 per cent, as an invoice from a dealership is required. As a result, I was asked to accept a loan rate of 7.5 per cent, which I refused,” he says.

“I can see no evidence in the application process that a car must be purchased from a dealership to qualify for the green car loan rate. This condition excludes private buyers wishing to go green from receiving the lower interest rate,” he points out.

Before contacting us, he spoke with a Bank of Ireland adviser who “escalated” his complaint. He was told he was suddenly in “a grey area”, with the adviser stating that “the green car loan rate is available to private buyers, yet still requested a headed dealership invoice as evidence. As you know, as a private buyer, a headed paper dealership invoice is not possible.”

We contacted the bank, and a spokesman explained that it is clear on the application form and on the Bank of Ireland website that the “documentation quote can be from a garage or a private seller”.

The spokesman said while the bank provides regular training on its loans processes, “given this error we will cover this particular aspect with the team again. We apologise for the error and for any inconvenience this caused our customer. We are contacting him to see if he wishes to proceed.”