Bank Charges OFT Test Case Discussion

Morglin

Latest on the bank charges case bought by the OFT:


"There is no end in sight for thousands of bank customers who hope to have their 'rip-off' overdraft charges refunded.
The Office of Fair Trading and Abbey, Barclays, Clydesdale, Halifax/Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, RBS/NatWest and Nationwide BS are still in the dark over when a judge will publish a verdict on their legal bust-up.

The two sides went to the High Court in January to decide whether unauthorised overdraft charges fall under Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations. Until the result is published, tens of thousands of claims have been put on ice.

This is because in July last year, City watchdog the Financial Services Authority put in place a waiver that allowed banks to put on hold any complaints from customers who were contesting the validity of bank charges.

For the previous 18 months, the banks had paid back hundreds of thousands of pounds to customers who claimed the unauthorised overdraft charges were unfair.

Meanwhile, any charges will incur interest until the debt is cleared. This is the same for all UK banks that provide current accounts, not just those involved in the case.

Based on previous successful reclaims, customers should be able to get back this interest if the court favours the OFT.

However, if it does not, then it is more than likely you will have to pay everything the bank has charged.

Many have put on hold old accounts where the holder has had a dispute with the bank. Frequently, they will have left debts sitting in these old accounts in the hope that when the court ruling eventually comes out, they will get a full refund.

But this is a gamble. Even if the OFT does win, it is possible that it may not make banks give a refund.

You are better off clearing your debts now and ensuring that your objection to the charges has been registered so that, if allowed, you will be able to claim a refund later.

Since July, only those complaints from customers that are judged to be a hardship case have been dealt with. This doesn't mean that you cannot complain about the legitimacy of the charges - just that your bank does not need to investigate.

When the case is resolved, you will then be able to claim a refund if the final decision allows. When deciding if you are a hardship case, the banks have to abide by the Banking Code rules.

This says that they must be sympathetic to your case and help you come to some kind of repayment agreement.

This may include stopping you from racking up further charges, but does not mean you will necessarily get a refund.

If the OFT does win its case in the High Court, then it will have to come to a further decision about the charges. It is currently undertaking a market study of banks.
This report should be published later this year and should form part of any decision it makes. It is likely, though, that before a final ruling is made, the banks and the OFT will need to have another day in court".

from Moneymail:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/dmstandard/frame.html?in_bottom=http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/news

Lin

drmike40

What is the status of the OFT case in the High Court?

Nathan_Spleen

drmike40 wrote: »

What is the status of the OFT case in the High Court?

We are awaiting judgment on the initial hearing which could be anytime over the comming months.

The most recent updates I've had from the OFT are these:


Do you intend to publish the results of your Personal Current Account investigation before or after judgment is handed down on the hearing?

We are continuing to request and analyse information from the banks and we therefore will not be concluding the investigation until after the judgment. The market study is expected to be published pre-judgment however this depends, to a certain degree, on when judgment is handed down.

Do you know if any public places would be made available on the handing down of judgment?

The commercial court have looked into ensuring that we have as large as court room as possible for the handing down of the Judgment. Now that the Diana inquest is over we should be able to have a large room. However, they will not be able to allocate a room until the date of the judgement handing down is confirmed. If there is little public/press they will consider a media annex as we had at the IDRC.

Will the full written judgment be made available by the OFT?

The Court will hand out copies of the Judgment to press and public after the handing down of the judgment has been done on the day. We also intend to publish it on our website as soon as practicable.

Is there any further indication as to when judgment will be made?

No further indication about when Judgment may be.

luke3210123

I am in agreement with the fact that some bank charges are excessive but the only other way of the banks making their money is to charge for all current accounts.

Many personal bank account holders do not pay for their banking and if ran correctly then no charges will be received. However, banks charging for excess fees etc is a way of making up the money.

Think of it this way:

If you went on to Dragons Den and said: "Duncan, peter. I'm going to offer a service where people can keep their money with me, withdraw it when they want, from where ever they want. i'm going to pay all payments for them and i'm going to pay them interest on the money that they have with me. And i'm going to it all for free."

What do you think the reaction would be? If you watch the show you can imagine. And this is the crisis the banks face. The customer (including myself) do not want to pay for their accounts and nor do they think they should be charged when they do something wrong.

If the OFT win their case and everybody (including myself) get their charges back, then the banks are going to have look somewhere else to get the money from that they are losing out on. And where do you think that will come from??

I am very open minded and would love all the charges back that i have had to pay, but the bank's are businesses with shareholders, and like all businesses they are there to make money and they've chosen, somewhere down the line, to charge people who break the rules rather then everybody.

Regards

Luke

http://www.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Drew2007

I'm still waiting for someone to answer my previous question.

Is it worth me putting in a claim for an old closed bank acc now - or not?

vix2000

luke3210123 wrote: »

I am in agreement with the fact that some bank charges are excessive but the only other way of the banks making their money is to charge for all current accounts.

Many personal bank account holders do not pay for their banking and if ran correctly then no charges will be received. However, banks charging for excess fees etc is a way of making up the money.

Think of it this way:

If you went on to Dragons Den and said: "Duncan, peter. I'm going to offer a service where people can keep their money with me, withdraw it when they want, from where ever they want. i'm going to pay all payments for them and i'm going to pay them interest on the money that they have with me. And i'm going to it all for free."

What do you think the reaction would be? If you watch the show you can imagine. And this is the crisis the banks face. The customer (including myself) do not want to pay for their accounts and nor do they think they should be charged when they do something wrong.

If the OFT win their case and everybody (including myself) get their charges back, then the banks are going to have look somewhere else to get the money from that they are losing out on. And where do you think that will come from??

I am very open minded and would love all the charges back that i have had to pay, but the bank's are businesses with shareholders, and like all businesses they are there to make money and they've chosen, somewhere down the line, to charge people who break the rules rather then everybody.

Regards

Luke

http://www.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From reading on the consumer action group the banks make a massive amount of money from interest on loans, overdrafts, morgages ond other kinds of borrowing. No-one is objecting to paying interest on debit balances, or REASONABLE charges. Like many others, I went over by about £16 on 29 feb this year. I sent my daughter in on 1st March to pay in to cover it as I was ill, the reason I missed paying in in the first place. I had a letter to say I was being charged £38, which, although daylight robbery, I expected. I then recieved another letter saying I was being charged £38. I telephoned to see if it was a mistake. No, I was being charged for Feb and March. £74 for £16 over 48 hours. Can someone work out the interest rate on that? If they were loan sharks they'd be locked up. Pure Greed.

'To charge people who break the rules'??????

showergirl

I think it is time that the banks sorted themselves out. They are starting to come down heavy on people and I feel that this is because we are starting to fight back. They are not passing on interest rate cuts to their customers as they say they cannot afford to but they are still reporting huge profits. The banks should take some resposibility and try to help getting this country back on its feet. whats the point of repossessing houses when they won't give anyone a mortgage to buy. they should pay back the charges instead of !!!!!footing around and act fairly when the BOE cut interest rates.

Knackered

Drew2007 wrote: »

I'm still waiting for someone to answer my previous question.

Is it worth me putting in a claim for an old closed bank acc now - or not?

Can't you read? The court case hasn't finished yet. You, like the rest of us, will have to wait until the decision has been made whether we can claim or not.

liddled

Drew2007 wrote: »

I'm still waiting for someone to answer my previous question.

Is it worth me putting in a claim for an old closed bank acc now - or not?

I'm abit more sensitive than the above quote, yes we are waiting for a decision but yes you should still proceed with a claim....

Hope this is more helpful.

Good Luck...

livelyred

I have been waiting 17 months now to get my bank charges bck,then last yr all off thm were put on hold as going to the High Court,can anyone tell me whats happening as i havent heard nothing since last yr whether we will still get our charges bck or not ?