Report to the People
5th May 2008
Guilty as Charged?
If
you are one of the thousands currently trying to claim back hefty charges levied
against you by your bank, you may have taken more than a passing interest in
recent proceedings at the High Court.
Because,
at the end of last month, Mr Justice Andrew Smith confirmed what campaigners had
been arguing for two years - that, to be legal, bank charges have to pass a
“fairness” test.
Not
such good news was the judge’s ruling that the charges were not disguised
fines, which would have rendered them unenforceable. That being said, experts say that the unfair contract terms
aspect of this case is more important.
So
where does this leave us? Well, the
next step is for the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) to assess whether it believes
that these charges are actually unfair. While
I can’t prejudge the issue, it was the OFT which took the banks to court in
the first place.
But
don’t wait to submit your claim just because this battle is rumbling on.
There are already an estimated 750,000 cases in the queue, so the sooner
your claim’s in, the sooner it will be processed.
Also,
your claim can only cover charges from the last five years.
So, the longer you leave it, the more older charges will be excluded from
your case.
To
get the ball rolling, click here or
call my office on 791820 for a free information pack.
And, for expert, free advice, contact Money Matters Inverclyde on 715965.
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