Office of Fair Trading to delay decision on bank charges
Industry professionals recently warned consumers in the UK that wanted to try and reclaim their bank charges to step up the pace, as they were running out of time. Since last year, when the Office of Fair Trading and financial regulators stated that banks charges were unfair and unlawful, many people have contacted their banks and reclaimed overdraft and returned direct debit charges sometimes going back up to six years. Banks were often charging nearly forty pounds for such charges, but experts and regulators have estimated that the actual cost of administration to the banks was just a few pounds, which meant that customers were being charged ten times the amount of the charge in some cases.
Earlier this year experts announced that the Office of Fair Trading would be reaching a decision with regards to how much banks could fairly charge customers for going over their overdraft limits and for returned cheques and direct debits. Many thought that this would be within the first quarter of 2007, and because of this urged those looking to make a claim for their bank charges to act quickly because the OFT’s decision could otherwise affect the amount that they would be able to reclaim.
However, the good news for those still waiting to make a claim on their previous charges is that the OFT and other regulators have now decided that further information and investigation is required before a firm decision can be made on how much banks will be allowed to charge, and this means that those still waiting to claim have more time to make their claims before any decision is reached. It is now thought that a decision is likely towards May of this year, which gives consumers a few valuable extra weeks to stake their claims.
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