Lords hear bank charges test case appeal

by Gill Montia

Story link: Lords hear bank charges test case appeal

An appeal made to the House of Lords in the test case over unauthorised overdraft charges has begun today.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has been trying to establish the legality of the charges – widely regarded as exorbitant – under the 1999 Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations.

High Court Judge, Mr Justice Andrew Smith, ruled that the OFT had the right to decide whether or not the charges were fair last year.

The seven High Street banks involved in the case challenged the ruling in the Appeal Court in March and were unsuccessful.

However, in April they were granted the right to appeal to the House of Lords.

The case has now been running for two years and in 2007 the Financial Services Authority issued a waiver allowing banks and county courts to hold fire on bank customers’ complaints until the final judgment.

According to consumer website, Legal Beagles, the log-jam of dissatisfied customers waiting to reclaim charges has reached almost one million.

Meanwhile, the OFT has been trying to speed up proceedings by focusing on the terms governing unauthorised overdrafts issued by Lloyds TSB, HSBC and Clydesdale Bank only.

Estimates regarding the amount UK banks may have to repay if their charges are found to have been unreasonable vary but are always in the billions.