Banks have hit consumers with four billion pounds in charges

According to the price comparison website Uswitch, banks in the UK have applied over four billion pounds worth of charges to the accounts of nearly nineteen million customers, many of whom have been taking steps to reclaim some of these charges after they were deemed unfair and unlawful by financial regulators in the UK. However, according to the data from Uswitch around fifty two percent of customers have not managed to claim back these fees.

The data goes on to reveal that 14% of banking customers are not even aware that they can claim back these fees, despite the fierce controversy that has taken place over these charges over recent months. Consumers can claim back fees that were applied to their bank accounts going back up to six years, and these are fees that were charged for going into the red, exceeding an agreed overdraft limit, and for returned direct debits and bounced cheques. This is because financial regulators concluded that banks had been charging way more than the costs that they actually incurred, and the Office of Fair Trading is due to make a ruling in terms of a ceiling limit on future charges later this month.

In the meantime, over two million pounds waits to be reclaimed from the many bank customers that have not yet reclaimed these charges. Although consumers may have to pay a modest fee for back copies of statements so that they can check on their charges, they could successfully claim back all of these charges along with eight percent in interest on the amount.

According to one Uswitch expert: 'While the majority of banks are bending over backwards to refund bank charges to those consumers that take the initiative to fight back, this is not because the banks have gone soft in the last couple of months. They would simply rather settle now than have to appear in court and face a damaging test case which would set a dangerous legal precedent.  However, the fact remains that only a court can determine whether a charge is unfair or not, and a test case may be the only way to resolve this issue once and for all.'

Tom Smith
23.03.07