The issue of reclaiming bank charges has been a long and drawn out process as the banks decided to appeal to the House of Lords even after the Court of Appeal stated that an appeal would be a waste of time.
The 2nd part of the test case is currently being heard and a decision is expected on Wednesday 25 November 2009. If the decision goes in favour of consumers then the banks could be facing claims from over 8 million customers, however if the ruling goes in favour of the banks then the ability to request refunds of bank charges will be lost.
A survey carried out by Which? claims that 63% of people who had been charged by their banks had not yet put in a claim to reclaim their bank charges. There are currently over 1 million bank charge claims on hold pending the outcome of this case.
The OFT have stated that if the banks lost the test case they feel it would be unlikely that the banks would be able to appeal the case to Europe unless the Supreme Court refers the proceedings itself.
If the ruling goes in favour of the OFT then they will need to decide what level of charges is deemed to be fair – could be subject to legal challenge.
Our bank charges team advise all consumers who have been the victim of unfair bank charges to put in their claims regardless of the test case. You have nothing to loose by getting your claim in the queue. We operate all claims on a "no win no fee" basis so even if the decision goes against consumer you will not have to pay us a penny.
Give us a call on freephone: 0800 634 0139 or send us an email using our online enquiry form (http://www.simpsonmillar.co.uk/
Useful links:
Reclaim bank charges - http://www.simpsonmillar.co.uk/
Financial Hardship Cases - http://www.simpsonmillar.co.uk/
