Hi °C | Lo °C Question: Can you explain what the banks’ recent court case means for bank charges? Can I make a claim to recover high bank charges?
Answer: The Supreme Court ruled against the Office of Fair Trading, which had argued that banks were often making excessive charges for unauthorised overdrafts. But customers can still ask their banks to review very high charges. Banks may well, as a gesture of goodwill, waive charges for customers they regard as valued. Customers who are short of money can request charges are waived or cut on the grounds of financial hardship. Consumers who complain and are not satisfied with the response can appeal by requesting the Financial Ombudsman Service review the charges on the grounds that they are not ‘proportionate’.
