Yorkshire Bank

Today (8 October 2008), the High Court delivered its judgement on the current stage of the test case on unarranged overdraft charges. The Case is between seven banks and one building society with the Office of Fair Trading. This stage considered the terms & conditions previously used by them, and whether they were capable of being penalties under common law.
The Court found that Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banks’ charges levied under previously used terms & conditions are incapable of being penalties.
Further Court hearings will be required before the test case process is concluded. This will include an appeal of the first stage judgment by the Banks and the building society, on the question of whether the current charges can be assessed for fairness. This commences on 28 October 2008.
As previously agreed with the FSA and the Financial Ombudsman Service, customer complaints relating to unarranged overdraft charges will currently remain on hold. The Banks and the building society will continue to ask County and Sheriff Courts to keep cases relating to unarranged overdraft charges on hold until the test case process is concluded.
Please refer to the British Bankers Association website (opens in a new window) for further information.
Editors Notes

Seven banks and one building society are currently engaged in a High Court test case with the Office of Fair Trading to decide the legality of unarranged overdraft charges. The first stage of the test case process was heard by the Court between 16 January and 8 February 2008 and dealt with certain preliminary issues of legal principle in relation to the terms and conditions used by the Banks at that time. On 24 April 2008 the Court issued its judgment on this first stage of the test case process. It decided that the current charges cannot be penalties, but that they can be assessed for fairness.

Hi all

My bank charges claim with Yorkshire Bank (Clydesdale) has been on hold like everybody elses but i contacted them to inform them of my financial hardship on early September 08.After the 8 week period the bank agreed i fit the criteria and informed me that an offer would be made to assist with this.

My claim amount is over £7,000 so i was really relieved when i found out that they would help by offering a part payment.

I got the cheque yesterday and its for only £1,780.00. Whilst im glad to have that money at this point (christmas etc) i was really gutted to find it was such a small amount given the high claim value.

I am now in 2 minds, should i accept this offer and wait til the courts rule with the hope that i will get the rest (the bank agree that i am still ok to claim the rest if the court rules in my favour) or should i take this to the FOS and ask them to step in ?.

If i use the FOS will it lead to a bigger offer amount or will they simply say that the bank have done what they should by offering me £1,780 ?.

I have read that others have had offers which are much higher and am dissapointed that YB have only offered such a small amount.

Dont get me wrong im glad something has happened but at the moment i have more going out that coming in, YB agree that im in hardship and in my opinion should have helped me more !!!!

I would like honest opinions / professional advice where possible please. Id like to put the cheque into my bank next week so i can use it over xmas but want to wait and see what everyone on here says before i do incase i make a mistake accepting this low offer.

Thanks in advance

Hi thanks for the advice, if i process the cheque into my bank account can i still write and ask them to consider helping me further or will they refuse based on the fact that i have accepted their initial offer ?.

The money they have offered willl be very helpful but if theres a strong chance i could get me by declinging this offer i may consider that. Would i have to use the FOS / court if i went down this route ?.

Thanks

The bank have stated that i am entitled to claim the remaining amount if indeed the courts do rule in our favour.I just felt that if they bank agree that i have a case for hardship then they should have offered me more than £1780 of a £7k+ claim.

On the form i had to fill in showing my income and commitments it showed a heavy negative figure each month. The bank also gave me a CCJ 2 years ago and they now agree that i am in hardship so the low offer is another smack in the face in my opinion.

Perhaps i should just accept what they have offered any pray that the courts rule in our favour (which im really nervous about).

£7k will make a huge difference and i just think the bank should have been more willing to help me, afterall they took all the money without any problems whatsoever in the first place.

Heres to praying that we get the result we all want.

Thanks

Perhaps they need it for verification. You could tell them your DOB etc. but each bank has their own security questions. Do you not have a single statement at all?