Emergency STOP!

27 July 2007 - All Bank Charge claims to Recover Bank Charges put on HOLD.

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Latest NEWS- 22/07/08 - FSA grants extension on reclaiming for further 6 months, with new hardship guidlines.

The FSA's waiver to deal with bank charge claims has been extended further by 6 month's, however new guidlines have been put into place for those expeiencing 'financial difficulty'. Please visit the FSA's website for further information.

What happen's now!

Well it is a waiting game, we have to wait for the OFT to make a decision on whether they think that bank charges actually are unfair.

We will keep you updated should things change.

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Latest NEWS- 23/05/08 - Banks to appeal test case decision

Banks have been granted leave to appeal the High Court decision on the fairness of Bank Charges. It is anticipated that this will now go to the court of appeal at some point this autumn, however this appeal may then progress further to the House of Lords if either side then challenges it further, the question of the OFT's jurisdiction is highly unlikely to be settled until next year.

More delays likely- claims for refunds on bank charges remain frozen, pending the outcome of the test case.

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Latest News- 30/04/08 - Bank charges

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has won the test case to establish that bank charges for unauthorised overdrafts falls under "unfair contract" rules designed to protect the public. However, this is only the first stage in what could be an extremely long legal process.

"We all know one thing for sure: banks will not take this lying down and will find other ways to maintain profits regardless."

It is estimated that banks earn up to £3.5bn per year from the overdraft charges, with account holders paying up to £36 every time they go over drawn.

What does this mean now?

The ruling means the OFT now has the right to assess the terms and conditions underlying overdraft charges for fairness and decide whether unauthorised overdraft charges fall under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations.

Please note this is the first stage only of a lengthy legal process and banks are still not accepting claims as the waiver granted to banks by the Financial Services Authority has NOT been removed.

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Results on Recovering Bank Charges delayed again! Annoyingly.

Bank Charges test case results are not likely to be announced until July 2008. Annoying news for all of us, all we can do is sit and wait. Although a decision is expected in July, it may be several month’s after this before we see any progress.

According to the Office of Fair Trading regardless of who wins, there will be an additional hearing or appeal.

Please continue to download our claim pack and get your claim in NOW!

Recover past six years in England and five years in Scotland.

THIS DOES NOT AFFECT CREDIT CARD’S

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Bank charges become a testing case ANALYSIS
By Chris Warner Lawyer at Which? Last Updated: Friday, 8 February 2008, 16:20 GMT
read more...

January 17, 2008 Latest News
UK banks defend 'rip-off' overdraft charges

British lenders accuse the OFT of encouraging customers to sue with 'ill-judged comments' about overdraft fees

read more...TimesOnline

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The OFT (Office of Fair Trading) has started High Court proceedings today (27 July 2007) after eight high street banks agreed to a test case to settle the issue on whether bank charges on unauthorised overdrafts are fair.

At the same time the regulator the FSA has announced banks no longer need deal with complaints; the Financial Ombudsman Service has also suspended dealing with complaints, until the test case has been heard.

The test case will involve Abbey National, Barclays, Clydesdale, the HBOS group, which includes Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, which includes NatWest, and Nationwide Building Society. Together these banks account for around 90 per cent of the current account market in the UK.

"County Courts and the Financial Ombudsman Service across Britain have received numerous complaints that these charges are unfair” OFT said in a statement.

Thankfully, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) agrees with the customer.

Believe it or not the banks and building socities still don't think this is true.

The banks do not accept that the unfairness rules of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations apply. The OFT believes that they do and is seeking to establish this legal principle clearly in the court."

Our Advise to all Our Customers

We are also advising new customers to start their claims with us, we will then be in a position to process their claims immediately the outcome of the test case is known.

Bank and Building Socities have long been accused of ripping off customers with the excessive bank charges they impose for minor bank account problems when a Direct Debit has failed, a Cheque has bounced or an agreed Overdraft limit has been exceeded.