Supreme Court to rule on bank charge case next week

by Gill Montia

Story link: Supreme Court to rule on bank charge case next week

Britons awaiting a ruling on the case brought by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to establish the legality, or otherwise, of unauthorised overdraft charges have one week to go.

The UK’s new Supreme Court has announced that it will make a judgement on an appeal brought by the seven banks and one building society involved in the case on 25th November.

According to estimates, over one million individuals and businesses are already in a back log of claims not dealt with under a waiver granted to the banks by the Financial Services Authority, in 2007.

The legal battle dates back to July of that year and even now a Supreme Court ruling could be challenged by the banks.

The judgement due next week will only establish whether the OFT has the right to assess whether the charges are fair under the 1999 Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations.

Even if the court acts in the OFT’s favour, legal challenges to its actual assessment under the act could follow.