Posts Tagged 'Unfair bank charges'
Fresh Hope for Bank Charge Reclaims?
Last month, the Supreme Court overturned the decisions of both the High Court and the Appeal Court and ruled that the OFT is not authorised to assess the fairness of bank charges. This bank charges verdict came as a huge shock and disappointment to millions of consumers who thought they might be able to have the excessive charges refunded.
However, moneysavingexpert.com Guru, Martin Lewis, has been working with legal experts since the ruling in November. The Supreme Court seemed to almost hint that there might be other legislation under which the charges might be disputed and it’s this little flicker of hope that has led Lewis and the legal team to their newest campaign. They now believe that millions could claim bank charges back if the OFT launch another campaign to have bank charges deemed unfair under the Consumer Credit Act.
The Office of Fair Trading has yet to release an official response to the new legal findings. As things stand, there are an estimated 1 million bank charges claims on hold. If the bank charges are found, through whatever legislation, to be unfair and the banks are forced to refund them, it will cost them an estimated £10 billion.
As illustrated on the bank charges timeline the charges ’scandal’ has been ongoing now since 2005 and it doesn’t look like there’s an end in sight just yet!
8 Million More to Claim Bank Charges?
Consumer support group, Which? estimates that a further 8 million Britons will reclaim unfair bank charges if the ruling expected on Wednesday this week goes in favour of the Office of Fair Trading.
Claiming bank charges has been suspended since July 2007, following a joint decision by the Office of Fair Trading and the banks to run a test case through the courts. One High Court date, an Appeals Court date, a three day House of Lords hearing and over two years later and the Supreme Court is now just two days away from making a decision with the potential to change personal banking entirely.
There are already a million applications for bank charge reclaims on hold pending a decision. Prior to the suspension, it is estimated that the banks had already reimbursed almost £1 billion to consumers who had claimed back the unfair bank charges.
But Which? now estimates that another 8 million consumers will follow suit if the Supreme Court upholds the ruling made by both the High Court and Appeals Court. If that happens, consumers will be able to claim back bank charges from the past 8 years. While this is undoubtedly good news for those who have been hit by the charges, it does raise questions about the future of free banking. There are concerns that banks may start charging a monthly fee for a personal bank account or even start charging for every single ATM transaction. This will be a huge blow for those who enjoy free banking without ever going into the red, however, last week Santander, the owners of Abbey introduced a completely fee free account for holders of their mortgages. Could this open the door for the other banks to follow?
Claiming Bank Charges – Verdict Scheduled
The long awaited Supreme Court decision on unfair bank charges will finally be made next week. The judges will decide whether or not the Office of Fair Trading has the power to assess the fairness of bank charges. Both the Appeal Court and the High Court have already previously judged that the OFT does have such powers and the step up to the new Supreme Court was brought about by banks still fighting that decision. Realistically, however, it could still be a long time before consumers find out whether they have a right to reclaim such charges.
The applications for reclaims were suspended in July 2007, when the banks and the Office of Fair Trading agreed to stage a test case. Prior to this though, around £1 billion was refunded by the banks to individuals claiming bank charges and there are currently almost one million claims on hold awaiting a decision.
Martin Lewis of Money Saving Expert has warned that even if the Supreme Court Rules that the OFT does have the power to assess bank charges, the banks could continue to fight and ‘drag this out for years,’ unless there is some political intervention.
In a three day appeal hearing at the House of Lords in June 2009, the seven banks and one building society in question argued that upholding the OFT right to regulate bank charges would lead to a ‘deluge of litigation.’
The final Supreme Court Decision is expected at 9.45am on Wednesday 25th November.