Banks mislead credit card charge claimants

by Gill Montia

Story link: Banks mislead credit card charge claimants

Moneysavingexpert.com, the financial advice website, has accused some High Street banks of deceiving customers who are attempting to reclaim default charges on their credit card bills.

Currently large numbers of claims by consumers for fees for unauthorised overdrafts have been put on hold, pending the outcome of a case in the High Court, which should be heard next year.

However, the website maintains that banks are falsely applying this waiver to customers trying to reclaim unreasonable charges in connection with their credit cards.

According to Martin Lewis of Moneysavingexpert.com “Many banks are outrageously trying to apply the hold on bank charges reclaiming, to credit cards reclaiming, even though the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) already sorted this out back in April 2006″.

The British Bankers’ Association has confirmed that this should not be the case and that the waiver over the settlement of alleged unreasonable bank charges “only applies to current accounts and should have no effect on credit card claims”.

Most banks reduced default fees for credit cards following a statement by the Office of Fair Trading in 2006, that it would not challenge the legality of such fees if they were set at a level no higher than £12.

However, some customers are still in the process of reclaiming fees charges at higher rates and are incorrectly being advised by the banks and the courts that their cases have to remain hold until the outcome of the OFT High Court test case.