Bank charges to be reduced?
I'm sure many of your tales for IncompetenceWatch will involve your bank, and their application of spurious charges which only make situations worse. I know I've had more than a few of those. There have been some victories, but overall I've come out worse off because of £30+ charges for bouncing £2 payments etc.. I hadn't considered filing a small claim against NatWest, though I'd have been justified, and now it's too late. Small claims made by customers in relation to excessive charges have been thrown out of county courts because there's a case being heard in a higher court that could settle the matter once and for all.The decision from Gloucestershire County Court says: 'It is ordered that the hearing be vacated and the allocation of the small claims track cancelled...
'The action be stayed until further order on the basis that there is likely to be a test case before a higher court before the end of the year. The result is likely to reduce the need and/or amount of litigation in these types of cases.'
If a judge were to decide that the bank charges imposed were justified, then customers seeking refunds would have nowhere to turn. However, to prove that the charges were justified a bank would have to prove that it actually costs upwards of £20 to send out a letter to a customer saying they have gone overdrawn, and a further £25 for authorising or bouncing payments.
If the customer were to win, it would effectively mean that banks were guilty of excessive charging.
via McBlog
posted by Ian at 11:41 AM