A couple who were treated by ACC Bank with what a judge described as "appalling incompetence" have been awarded damages of €38,000 - the highest award the Circuit Court can make.
Judge Kevin Haugh said the bank, through its branch in Santry, Dublin, had subjected Christopher and Avril Trimble to a regime of intolerable incompetence.
"These decent, honourable and extraordinarily tolerant people have literally been driven to bring these proceedings," Judge Haugh said.
Mr David Burke, counsel for the Trimbles, of Brackenstown Village, Swords, Co Dublin, told the court the couple were suing the bank for damages for defamation, negligence, breach of contract and duty and fraud.
Mr Burke said the Trimbles had suffered a litany of returned cheques and other banking errors which had destroyed their personal and professional reputations.
Judge Haugh heard how the bank, which admitted liability, had ignored arrangements for the payment of business accounts and had redirected monies they paid in to meet Visa bills towards repaying a bank term loan.
The bank had dishonoured so many cheques made out to Eircell that the phone supplier eventually cut them off, forcing them to use expensive "ready-to-go" phone services to keep their Directo Courier Services business on the go.
Ms Avril Trimble told the court the bank had dishonoured cheques written to meet parking fines run up by their van drivers. A Garda squad car had called to her home and she had been told if the fines were not paid she would spend four days in Mountjoy jail . Gardaí in the car had sat on the street for more than half an hour until arrangements had been made to pay the fines in cash.
On another occasion gardaí had called to her home to recover a motor tax disc because the bank had dishonoured a cheque for a road tax licence on one of the company's vehicles.
Mr Christopher Trimble said cheques to suppliers had been dishonoured, forcing him to arrange cash-only business accounts. A cheque paid to a van-owning neighbour whom he had employed was also returned causing him acute personal embarrassment.
Judge Haugh said he was satisfied this was a case with virtually no mitigating factor and one for the full jurisdiction of the court.
Awarding the Trimbles €38,000 and their costs, he said the bank had never accepted that it had treated the Trimbles in an abominable fashion. What the bank had done had caused embarrassment to the Trimbles, bringing police to the house to make an arrest, letting down a neighbour they had paid by cheque and letting down trade suppliers.
"All these people have ever got out of the bank are trite formulaic letters regretting any inconvenience caused - a sentiment about as sincere as a New York taxi driver wishing you to have a nice day," Judge Haugh said.
He said they had been treated with appalling incompetence and had not been given an explanation beyond things not working well in a particular branch for a time.
Judge Haugh said the Trimbles had not had a true apology; only on February 28th had the bank written to admit liability, on the grounds of saving court time and avoiding the Trimbles being put to the expense of calling witnesses.
"That about sums up the attitude of this particular bank towards this particular couple, admitting liability without saying sorry," Judge Haugh said.