OFT bank charge decision "welcome"

06/04/2009

New signs from the Office for Fair Trading (OFT) that it wants a quick resolution to its bank charges probe are "welcome", expert observers have said.

The office announced last week that it would be concentrating its investigation - which looks into whether or not the charges are fair - on just three "representative" banks.

It added in a statement that it expects to deliver its findings before the end of the year.

The charges, which were levied by banks for offences such as exceeding overdraft limits, were the subject of a consumer revolt prior to the OFT investigation being called in 2007.

Hundreds of thousands of consumers who were in the process of reclaiming the fees had their cases frozen and are awaiting the result of the probe, as well as the outcome of a parallel High Court test case looking into legal issues surrounding the issue.

Which? head of campaigns Louise Hanson said: "We're pleased that the OFT is doing whatever it takes to bring this saga to an end as quickly as possible.

"We welcome its assurances that all the banks are still within its sights and we remain confident that the unauthorised overdraft charges of all banks will be found to be unfair."

Kevin Mountford, head of banking at financial website moneysupermarket.com, added: "I hope this marks the next step in resolving the overdraft charges saga, which has dragged on far too long."

Bank charge claimants received a setback from the High Court test case last week.

The House of Lords said that banks could contest a previous ruling from the Court of Appeal, which stated that the firms were covered by certain contract fairness laws.

This has the potential to delay the resolution of the test case - and therefore any refunds for charges.

Tags; Debt Management and Banking, Credit Card Lifestyle, Recent Graduate Debt,

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