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Bank charges D-Day revealed

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Guy Anker
Guy Anker
Deputy Editor & Head of Operations
17 November 2009

The Supreme Court will reveal the result in the latest stage of the bank charges legal saga on Wednesday week, it announced today.

If the banks lose, it could reopen the reclaiming bandwagon (see the Bank Charges reclaiming guide for template letters).

The court is considering an appeal by current account providers against earlier rulings that charges can be assessed for fairness, with the result due at 9.45 am on Wednesday, 25 November.

The Court of Appeal and High Court have already ruled that charges can be assessed for fairness.

If the Supreme Court upholds that view, the Office of Fair Trading will determine whether charges of £35 a time for exceeding your overdraft limit are fair. It has hinted it thinks they are unjust.

Over £1 billion was returned to consumers before claiming was suspended for most in July 2007, at the same time as the announcement a test case would take place.

Over one million claims are currently on hold, while 6.25 million reclaiming template letters have already been downloaded from this site.

Martin Lewis, MoneySavingExpert.com founder, says: "After two and a half years, it looks like we're about to get a firm result.

"The High Court and Court of Appeal have ruled and it's to be hoped the Supreme Court continues to stick up for the million-plus people with reclaims on hold.

"Yet there's currently nothing stopping the banks challenging any OFT decision in court and dragging the whole thing on for years.

"The real hope of a quick solution is for political intervention after this result.

"I've had letters from Messrs Brown, Cameron and Clegg all effectively committing to that and MoneySavingExpert.com, with its 8 million users a month, will try and ensure they stick to their promise."

While reclaiming is suspended for most, you can still submit a claim if you're in financial hardship.

It doesn't mean you'll get your money back but banks must at least listen to your concerns (see the Bank Charges Hardship guide).

Further reading/Key links

Full reclaiming guide inc. free template letters: Bank Charges Hardship reclaiming guide inc. free templates: Bank Charges Hardship

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