Breki Karlsson, the chairman of the Consumers’ Association, says that the case dealt with in the district court today, where Landsbankinn was ordered to repay overpaid interest, involved about 70,000 loans.
Landsbankin’s preliminary assessment, on the other hand, is that the financial impact of the result would be within ISK 200 million, according to Rúnar Pálmason, Landsbankin’s information representative.
Don’t expect the case to be over
The consumer association is behind six cases of this nature, two of which were resolved today in the district, where Arion banki was acquitted on the one hand, while Landsbankinn was sentenced to repayment due to the terms of a loan with variable interest, which was invalid.
“I don’t expect the case to end here, we will probably appeal,” says Breki.
“This concerns approximately 70,000 unsecured loans. Unfortunately, there is no information on the number of loans with variable interest at the Financial Supervisory Authority, which is the supervisory body for this,” says Breki, adding that the association has repeatedly requested information on the number of loans with variable interest but has not received it.
Unclear about direct treatment before the Supreme Court
The overpaid interest amounted to 124,229 ISK for one borrower in the case and 108,711 ISK for the other.
“We believe that this financial compensation is as low as possible, and we will therefore probably appeal the case, as we believe that the consumer’s rights are better,” says Breki. The case will then take its course. Asked if the case will go directly to the Supreme Court because of the interests at stake, Breki says that it is unclear. There are precedents for this kind of thing, but in the last year, a case dealing with an upfront fee was directly dealt with by the Supreme Court.
