Ulster Bank Sets Aside £28m For Compensation Costs

Crisis-hit Ulster Bank has set aside £28m for costs arising from the computer breakdown which left customers unable to use their accounts last month.

Payments were not processed properly because of the glitch across the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) group but Ulster Bank customers were particularly hard hit as their payments were last to be cleared, after RBS and NatWest accounts.

The bank, which has 1.9m customers across the island of Ireland, is expected to compensate those who can prove they lost out financially.

Yesterday, the Consumer Council urged it to speed up the compensation process and release information to its customers.

RBS also announced today that it has set aside £125m for dealing with compensation claims.

It comes against a bad financial backdrop – RBS reported a half-year loss of £1.5bn, nearly twice what it lost in the same period last year.

Ulster Bank chief executive Jim Brown said: "Given the scale of the impact on our customers, we expect that there will be additional costs over the coming months as we continue the process of putting things right."

"We continue to work with our customers who are in financial difficulty on an individual basis to offer them appropriate support initiatives.

"Our forbearance arrangements are tailored to reflect individual circumstances and we continue to actively encourage our customers to contact us if they have any concerns about their financial health or are experiencing financial difficulty."

Mr Brown has confirmed he will not take a bonus.

(NE)