Bank charges - Adjournment debate in House of Commons next Tuesday

[bram stoker]

I got one too:

Dear Vampiress,



Thank you for your e-mail regarding the Adjournment Debate on bank charges last week. I appreciated the points you made to me following your attendance at a court hearing on debt caused by bank charges.



I feel sure you will have visited www.parliament.uk/hansard to view the debate. It is good news that Treasury Minister Ed Ball's agreed during the debate that penalty charges should be no more than the real administrative cost to the bank. I understand that the Minister agreed with the bill's sponsor, Matthew Taylor, that banks' penalty charges should be line with an Office of Fair Trading ruling on credit cards that

charges should reflect administrative costs. He called on the Government to support the OFT view that the same principles apply to bank current accounts. There was no justification for charges of up to £30 and I welcome moves to lift these penalty demands.



Yours sincerely,

Ian Taylor, M.B.E., M.P.

What moves to lift...?

[HydraUK]

I too got a letter from the Commons which also led to the wife calling -

Dear Mr Hydra

Thank you for your recent email regarding the Adjournment Debate secured by my Liberal Democrat Parliamentary colleague, Matthew Taylor MP, in the House of Commons on Tuesday 16th January 2007.

Unfortunately I was not able to be present at his 30 minute Debate, due to the fact that I was hosting a large delegation from West Cornwall lobbying the Government on the National Health Service. I have, however, been pushing Governement Ministers for some time to take action to end this unfair practice both before and since February 2005, when my constituent, Laura Saundersbecame the first in a line of successful challenges to the banks, in this case, Laura Saunders -v- Yorkshire Bank PLC.

I have continued to press Ministers (see attached question to the DTI) and the Competition Commission and am pleased that my Parliamentary colleague, Matthew Taylor MP, and others have also got behind this campaign.

I recommend that you take a look at Penalty bank charges (Hydra - Thank's Andrew, I have that covered) a new website set up by Bob Egerton ("Bob the Bankbuster") who lives in Cornwall and is a Liberal Democrat campaigner. The site provides information and guidance on how to make a claim against your bank.

Should you wish to read a transcript of the Parliamentary debat from Tuesday, you can check online at UK Parliament - Parliament Home Page and check the 'Hansard' link.

I hope this is helpful.

With every good wish.

Yours Sincerely,

Andrew George MP.

Attached was the following transcript.

Bank Charges

Andrew George (St Ives)(LD): What recent assessment the Office of Fair Trading has made of the regulation of charges imposed by banks on their customers. [52003] (Hydra - Not sure what the actual question is because of the grammer)

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Mr Gerry Sutcliffe): The OFT wrote to eight major credit card companies in July 2005 to consult on it's provisional conclusion that the default charges that they impose are excessive. The investigation is continuing.

Andrew George: I thak the minister for that answer. Since the finding that some of those charges are unfair under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999, however the OFT has failed to act on it's 3 month deadline to demand that the banks either seek to justify or remove those charges. A large number of customers have challenged those and received out-of-court sttlements, because the banks are not prepared to defend cases. In view of the fact that the Governement are keen to encourage low-income (Hydra - document ends there
16 Feb 2006 :Column 1553

In view of the fact that the Governement are keen to encourage low-income

I think it's a quite unfortunate place to end the document - I know AG is a LibDem but it's a bit harsh saying the Governement is keen to encourage low-income - hang on, no it isn't.