Bank charge claims figures released

12/02/2009

Over 65,000 people have been left in limbo after attempting to reclaim penalty charges from banks.

Consumer group Legal Beagles obtained the figure from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ).

In 2007, the Financial Services Authority obtained a waiver, permitting all claims to be frozen until the end of a High Court test case on the fairness of the charges was decided.

Mr Justice Andrew Smith ruled that the Office of Fair Trading can decide on whether or not the charges are fair.

This decision is now being appealed against by banks, meaning that the case is not over and that the claims remain frozen.

Julian Siddle, a spokesperson for Legal Beagles, told the BBC: "People are still incurring charges even though banks have obtained a waiver, so they don't have to deal with new complaints."

The group's Nick Spooner added: "The 65,000 figure only applies to the cases which the MoJ was absolutely sure related to claims against banks for the return of overdraft charges.

"There are others that the MoJ couldn't pick up when searching its database, because of the different ways in which people had written their claims. Meanwhile thousands more claims are piling up with the banks themselves."

Tags; Debt Management and Banking, Young Family Finances, Credit Card Lifestyle,

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