Millions still entitled to bank refund but fear retaliation
A recent study has revealed that there are still millions of people in the UK that are still entitled to reclaim unfair and unlawful banks charges, but are failing to do so because they are afraid of retaliatory action by the banks. There have been a number of cases highlighted in the past where those making a claim for unfair charges, that were imposed for exceeding the overdraft limit and for returned direct debits and cheques, have been threatened with closure of their accounts or had benefits such as overdraft facilities taken off them, and in some cases the banks have followed through on these threats.
According to a survey by Which? around ten million people in Britain could be entitled to claim back charges going back up to six years. In many cases those that have already claimed have made a claim for over on thousand pounds – around fifty percent of claimants have asked for this amount or more, and so far the banks have been paying up because they cannot justify the charges. The cost of administration to the banks for this type of situation is just a few pounds, but some banks have been charging as much as thirty five pounds or more to the customer.
Of the ten million entitled to refunds around six and a half million still have to make a claim, and around twenty percent of these have not made a claim simply because they are afraid of retaliation from the banks. Another twenty two percent thought that making a claim was too much hassle and hence have not bothered, and a large percentage simply weren't sure how to go about making a claim, although there are step by step guides available online.
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