Unfair bank charges have been imposed on millions of people across Britain.
But customers who have been charged up to £40 for unauthorised overdrafts, bounced cheques, or failed direct debits are fighting back against bank charges.
Banks have long been accused of ripping off customers with the high charges they impose for minor account problems. Complaints against banks have soared, according to the Bank
Customers who slip into minor difficulties can see a mountain of debts pile-up, as banks charge £20 or more to send a letter and charge large amounts for going into overdrafts and missing direct debits.
However, there is a way to reclaim unfair charges from the banks and thousands of people are using it to fight back.
The latest
For the moment, banks have been given the right to put bank charges reclaim complaints on hold by the FSA Financial Services Authority while the outcome of the High Court test case is sought by the Office of Fair Trading and banks.
As of April 24, 2008, the OFT has won the right to assess whether the terms and conditions underlying the charges are fair, but we will have to wait until the summer of 2008 for the hearing into whether the actual fees themselves are fair.
Note that the on-going waiver does not apply to credit card charges, which can still be reclaimed and also business bank charges.
The advice to those who feel they have been charged unfairly is to continue putting claims in. But despite fears that as it is only possible to go back six years and people may miss out on refunded charges if they wait, the FSA has effectively set up a dead period until the case ends, which will not count in those six years.
Also most banks have set up specific bank charges refund departments and some may continue to refund charges on a case by case basis.
If you are in genuine financial hardship, the banks will still have to consider your case and the F
LETTER TEMPLATES
To view copies of the Daily Mail letter templates you can edit to include your own details and print off, click HERE(opens new window).
If you're looking for the template letter to initially send to your bank, see step 4. If it's the letter for small claims court action you are after, go to step 7. But remember if you are not sure about the theory, read all the steps before acting.
Consumer organisations, such as Bank Charges Hell and Consumer Action Group, claim the charges are illegal and they have urged people hit by excessive penalties to demand their money back – threatening court action.
They say people will be successul because banks are not providing their customers a service as such by providing them with unauthorised overdrafts and are therefore subject to OFT fairness rules. This view was upheld by the judge at the centre of the case in his most recent announcement.
This is the legal argument that has won back bank charges for hundreds of thousands of people, following the High Court judgement it is likely to change slightly. At the moment banks can postpone dealing with claims and courts have a stay on cases, but this should cease if they do not appeal the High Court decision by 22 May 2008.
