Tyrie writes to FSA over Bank of Ireland rate rise

Andrew Tyrie, the chairman of the Treasury Select Committee (TSC), has written to the Financial Services Authority over a decision by the Bank of Ireland to raise mortgage interest rates.

The BoI has almost doubled its mortgage tracker rate, affecting more than 13,000 customers, despite the Bank of England base rate remaining at its historic low of 0.5%. In his letter, Tyrie (pictured) said he is "very concerned" by the move and queried whether it could be deemed a case of product mis-selling. He has also asked whether it will be taking a closer look at the clauses within the affected contracts. From 1 May, the bank will raise the mortgage rate for residential customers from, typically, the Bank of England rate plus 1.75%, to the Bank rate plus 2.49%. It will the...