Bank Charges Reclaim – Latest developments

You may have recently read in the press that the Office of Fair Trading won its case against the banks with respect to unfair overdraft charges. Our understanding is that what the judge actually ruled was that it is the OFT's decision as to whether to rule the charges fair or not. Since it was the OFT who bought this case it's sensible to assume that they will declare these fees unfair.

What are the next steps?

The next steps are for the OFT to declare the fees unfair then to make a decision as to what level of fees are fair. This should all happen in between May and July 2008. Until then all claims are still in limbo.

Where this leaves YOUR claim.

It's still worth putting a claim in. You can put a claim in for the last six years worth of unfair overdraft charges. However the FSA have said that you can claim for six years from the point at which your claim was registered. So if the whole court process lasts a year from when you put your claim in you will be able to claim for seven years worth of charges (six statutory years and plus the one year you were kept waiting by the court case). This can add up to a serious amount of money!

As soon as it is possible for Portal Claims to start the claims process we'll be in touch and working on your behalf.

May 2008

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