Bank Charges OFT Test Case Discussion

Stokey125

toxic_tom wrote: »

my firts post, so forgive me if its in the wrong place.

Just read this in the Daily Mirror. will it effect my claim that has been put on hold?

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/money/city/2007/09/13/stitch-up-89520-19783290/

As I read it it only effects claims with the ombudsman. What would be interesting is, if this is true, what happens if the banks do not settle the matter.

chipbeck

Stokey125 wrote: »

As I read it it only effects claims with the ombudsman. What would be interesting is, if this is true, what happens if the banks do not settle the matter.

This is very interesting. The ombudsman is not accepting any new cases yet they as a body are there to help us all. Should they decree that all cases on their books be paid in full then surely everybody would have the right to the same treatment. I don't think an "If they don't complain then we've got away with it" scenario is good enough. Pity they don't tell them to clear up all outstanding stayed cases as well.

creditcardjunkies

Hi not sure if i'm posting in right section?

I already had a small claim in the court process (scotland) when the OFT decided to freeze all bank claims. But barclays never put in a defence or got in touch with court what so ever, so the sheriff granted decree to me and summoned barclays to pay full amount with interest.

This was summoned by a sheriff officer on the 3/9/07, and they were given 14 days to pay. This time will be up on monday, I still haven't recieved any payment or acknowledgement from Barclays.

I'm just wondering what will happen next, because surley the sheriff officer cant arrest their wages or take items worth that amount .....can they??:eek:

Any advice would be great thanks :j

TBeckett100

this secret deal has left us all in limbo land.

windymiller54

hi everyone, can anyone help please,
my daughter applied for her bank charges back and requested her statements for the last six years, it took the bank sometime to send the statements, she's not sure what to do now because of the (stay) should she still apply to the court and pay the fee of £120 which she can ill aford or should she just wait for the outcome of the test case. (please help) thankyou.
windymiller.

Edinburghlass_2

creditcardjunkies wrote: »

Hi not sure if i'm posting in right section?

I already had a small claim in the court process (scotland) when the OFT decided to freeze all bank claims. But barclays never put in a defence or got in touch with court what so ever, so the sheriff granted decree to me and summoned barclays to pay full amount with interest.

This was summoned by a sheriff officer on the 3/9/07, and they were given 14 days to pay. This time will be up on monday, I still haven't recieved any payment or acknowledgement from Barclays.

I'm just wondering what will happen next, because surley the sheriff officer cant arrest their wages or take items worth that amount .....can they??:eek:

Any advice would be great thanks :j

Yes, in theory they can but its more likely they will ask for a cheque for you rather than goods

http://money.guardian.co.uk/saving/banks/story/0,,1994533,00.html

You'll need to go back to the court and ask them to issue a warrant against the bank.

Edinburghlass_2

windymiller54 wrote: »

hi everyone, can anyone help please,
my daughter applied for her bank charges back and requested her statements for the last six years, it took the bank sometime to send the statements, she's not sure what to do now because of the (stay) should she still apply to the court and pay the fee of £120 which she can ill aford or should she just wait for the outcome of the test case. (please help) thankyou.
windymiller.

Before apply to the court she needs to ask the bank for her charges back first giving them 14 days to respond and then send the next letter giving them a further 14 days before taking them to court.

Then she needs to decide if she proceeds with court action and pays the £120 fees to get her claim in the system or the early charges will be time barred by the time the test case is over.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/oft-bank-charges#court

agnes_2

Hello there Edinburghlass. I would be very interested to know what you think of all the latest developments in the news about the Lloyds TSB intention to change their charges. this one for instance......
Stitch up!

EXCLUSIVE Banks' secret deal with ombudsman to stop probe into their rip-off charges

13/09/2007

Banks struck a secret deal to prevent a probe into their rip-off charges by agreeing to repay customers' complaints in full.

The agreement meant that anyone who complained to the independent Financial Ombudsman Service would get all their overdraft charges refunded.
In exchange, the ombudsman agreed not to investigate whether the fees were fair. This prevented it from clashing with an Office of Fair Trading probe.
And it averted the danger that the ombudsman would set a precedent - and force the banks to repay all similar cases.
An ombudsman spokesman said: "We told the banks we would be forced to investigate if they did not repay the full amount.

"They didn't want to have an investigation. So they agreed to pay up."
The OFT is in the middle of a market study of current accounts and is involved in a joint High Court action to decide whether fees are legal.
It reckons that overdraft penalties raise between £2billion and £3.5bn a year.
For almost two years now a consumer revolt has seen millions of pounds being returned to customers who have complained about the cost of their overdraft penalties, which can be as high as £39 a time.
Initially they took their claim to court, but this year the ombudsman was swamped by a flood of cases - hundreds every day.
The secret deal led to the ombudsman service sending a spreadsheet with the names and claims of any customers that had contacted them.
The bank would then reply, telling the ombudsman that each case would be paid in full.
It has also been revealed that banks have admitted confusing customers with their explanations of current account charges.
A rethink of the Banking Code is expected to clamp down on the way that banks explain their fees, terms and conditions.

END QUOTE

The new proposals would mean that costs would increase tremendously Over on the CAG sites 'write to MPs 'and 'Cardiff Directions ' etc, loads of discussion and letters to MPs etc.

agnes_2

By the way has the petition site been closed down or is there a fault? the the link emailed to me to click on for confirmation of signing the petition 'webpage not not found?'

TANZARELLI

Re the test case, the OFT's only claim is a declaration from the court that the terms should be assessed for fairness. Even after the test case conclusion, if it gets that far, the OFT will still have to continue their investigation into the levels of the charges and come up with a figure as with credit card claims. This figure will (as with credit card claims) still be excessive and we will still have to go to court to fight for what we beleive in. Therefore the fact that the courts seem to have been missled into thinking that the test case will provide a ruling on the amounts banks should charge means the stays are pointless and only serve to give the banks a chance to re-coup some charges back from customers.

When will these agencies actually have some balls and stop worrying about upsetting the apple cart and do what they were set up to do instead of trying to come up with deals with the banks. Get on with the job you are employed to do or stop playing the game. We will win this without you.

All you are doing is trying to save face.

Tanz

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