Bank charges victory for consumers

27/02/2009

The Court of Appeal has given customers who are reclaiming what they see as excessive overdraft charges from banks a boost.

Judges threw out an appeal from the financial firms against a previous High Court decision, which gave the green light to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to investigate the penalty charges' fairness.

It is thought likely that such an inquiry would result in the fees being found unfair - and the recommendation that customers claiming them back should be reimbursed.

However, the banks could appeal to the House of Lords against the Court of Appeal verdict, or even launch another court case on the matter if the future OFT verdict goes against them.

Tens of thousands of claims cases are currently in limbo, waiting for the resolution of the case.

Total payouts from banks could be worth billions of pounds.

Talking to the BBC, Chris Warner at consumer group Which? commented: "It is great to see the Court of Appeal being so unequivocal in their guidance to the banks that this is the end of the road."

He added: "The banks have the right to appeal to the House of Lords but the Court of Appeal could not have been clearer that that is not the appropriate way to go forward."

Tags; Debt Management and Banking, Retirement Money Problems, Credit Card Lifestyle,

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