Bank charges decision could increase debt help demand

22/12/2009

Consumers looking to ease their personal income worries in the New Year have been dealt a blow after the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) confirmed that it has dropped the high-profile bank charges case.

On the back of consumer protests, the OFT recently launched a campaign aimed at clawing back some of the £2.6 billion the nation's high street banks charge their customers each year in charges and fees.

According to the regulator, such charges were often "difficult to understand" and far from fair, with many people having to resort to seeking to out professional debt help as their fines add up.

However, after the Supreme Court recently dismissed the OFT's case for the charges to be refunded to customers, the body has finally admitted defeat, though it maintains that it still has "significant concerns" over some of the tactics used by banks to generate cash from their customers.

"The OFT has concluded that any investigation it were to continue into the fairness of current unarranged overdraft charging terms under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations (UTCCRs) would have a very limited scope and low prospects of success," its statement read.

This comes soon after Age Concern and Help the Aged warned that many older people will see their personal income worries exacerbated by plans to phase out cheques.

Tags; Debt Management and Banking,

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