Bank Charges – Test Case Sentence
Another major success in the campaign against unfair bank charges was recorded on Thu 24th April as the UK’s biggest banks lost a test case about overdraft charges. An Ensligh court ruled that the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) can apply consumer contract regulations to decide if bank overdraft charges are fair or not. This doesn’t necssarily mean that bank charges are in any case unfair, yet strengthens the right of customers to some level of protection against the possibility of being unfairly charged.
This sentence followed a series of successes for the campaign which saw the SRC and Govan Law Centre heavily involved. It has been estimated that last year the banks refunded about £784m to nearly 378,000 customers throughout the UK.
What happens now?
The banks still have the right to appeal to this sentence until 22nd May 2008 and untiln then there will be no changes in the way the unfair charges cases are handled. However, watch this space for more information to come soon about the developments of the case. For more information on how to deal with unfair bank charges, see Govan Law Centre’s website. The Advice Centre recommends that you seek professional legal advice if you want to try and use these arguments in your own case.
Can I just take my case to the Financial Ombudsman instead?
The Financial Ombudsman has indicated that no bank charges cases will be considered until the outcome of the test case is known.
For more information or to discuss your own case, please contact the Advice Centre