Office Of Fair Trading Test Case

[Wild Billy]

The Office of Fair Trading: OFT launches test case on unauthorised overdraft charges

[mattyb13]

Somebody has just told me, and this could be nonsense, that claims in progress could be suspended until the outcome of this is known.

[crfx250]

Wow! This is great news

[bernard coleslaw]

!!

[tifo]

Originally Posted by mattyb13

Somebody has just told me, and this could be nonsense, that claims in progress could be suspended until the outcome of this is known.

Could they?

Both the court and FOS?

	The Financial Ombudsman Service For the most part, don't bother. The Ombudsman is an industry arranged service which is under-resourced, takes too long, lacks clear transparency. You have no idea what evidence the FOS has received from the bank or how your complain has really been handled. The FOS is the preferred complaints route for the banking industry. The county court is to be preferred by consumers for its speed, openness, the quality of its awards and also because it will award 8% interest on top of any damages won by you. The Ombudsman should normally be used to solving little technical difficulties or customer service problems which you have expereinced with your bank.

[mattyb13]

Like I said it could be nonsense. I have not seen anything that supports this. I certainly hope not anyway

[crfx250]

Here's the BBA's reaction:




Banks join OFT in test case to establish legal clarity on overdraft fees

26/07/2007


Tomorrow morning a number of banks and financial services organisations(1) are taking the initiative, working jointly with the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and the Financial Services Authority (FSA), to ask the UK courts to clarify the legal position regarding bank overdraft fees.
Court process

Banks believe the fees customers pay for unarranged overdrafts are fair and clear. However, this is clearly an issue where customers, as well as the banks, would welcome legal clarity. This is why banks have joined with the OFT to approach the courts for a ruling on this issue. It is unclear how long the case will last as that will depend on the court process.
Working together

The banks have approached the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) to agree a way forward to handle existing customer complaints. The FSA has agreed to issue a waiver(2), with immediate effect, to suspend the handling of customer complaints on this issue pending a decision by the court. Other banks who are not party to the court action will be applying to the FSA for a waiver and as such will be bound by the outcome of the court case.
What this means for the customer

The FSA has agreed that all existing or subsequent customer claims for refunds of bank charges will be recorded by the customer's bank or building society but any decision about potential refunds will be put on hold until the outcome of the court case. Offers which have already been made to customers will be honoured if the customer chooses to accept.
Banks will be writing to the UK courts requesting a stay(3) of all claims pending the outcome of this test case. The banks will be writing to customers with outstanding complaints advising them personally of their position.
Angela Knight, chief executive of the British Bankers' Association (BBA), said:
"Establishing legal clarity on the issue of bank charges is of paramount importance, not only for the banking industry, but for all customers now and in the future."
"The banks have always been firmly of the view that the fees they charge customers are fair and clear. The court case will clarify these points and provide certainty for customers and banks alike."



For further information, please contact:
Press Office (020 7216 8970 )
Out of hours contact (020 7216 8888 )


Notes to Editors:
(1)The BBA's members involved in the legal action are: Abbey; Barclays; Clydesdale; HSBC; HBOS; Lloyds TSB; Royal Bank of Scotland/NatWest; and Yorkshire banks; and Nationwide Building Society.
(2) The FSA this morning issued a press release announcing the details of this waiver. This can be downloaded from the FSA website (see link below).
(3) Banks will apply for a Stay of Proceedings on all current and pending cases to the Master of the Rolls for England and Wales, to the Attorney-General for Northern Ireland and to the Sheriff Courts in Scotland.

Related Links

FSA website (External Link)
OFT website - questions & answers (External Link)

[12thdomino]

Well it has been confirmed

So what do we do in the mean time, do we still put in our claims in or wait?

[noomill060]

Yup, just keep piling on the pressure. The banks have to record each and every claim, but once the waiver is granted by the FSA, they wont need to respond with an offer until after the test case.

	Bank Charges You should have started your claim for your bank charges by now. Don't wait. You should send your bank a Subject Acess Request asking for all personal data they hold on you - not just statements. You should calculate all of your bank charges and related interest as far back as 1995. You should send your bank a demand for a refund giving them 7 days. You should commence your legal action adding 8% statutory interest. If you wait for the outcome of the test case, you may not be able to claim like this. you may not be able to claim interest. You may only be offered the difference between the charge and the OFT "fair charge". The repayment scheme will try to limit you to refinds from 2001 only. A repayment scheme will not deal with any bank charges related defaults on the credit register whereas in a court action you can ask for these to be removed and to be compensated for the damage caused to you and your family by them. You should also write to the bank and to the CRA and put all charges related credit entries in disupte and warn them that you will want them removed from the Register when the test case is over. Warn them also that you are likely to be seeking compensation for these wrongful data entries. Full and final settlement Have you previously accepted a partial repayment of your bank charges in full settlement? You will still be able to claim the rest of your money back after the Test case is decided. Get all your information back to 1995 and put in your claim now.

	FSA Waiver The FSA has granted a waiver to the finance industry in respect of bank charges claims. The waiver has been in place since July 2007 and will continue until the OFT test case is decided. The OFT test case will be heard by the House of Lords in June 2009. We are likley to get a decision before the end of the year. Under FSA rules, banks must normally deal with all complaints within 8 weeks. The FSA waiver has allowed banks to put bank charges claims on hold pending the outcome of the Test case. The FSA waiver is expremely one-sided as it allows banks to put claims on hold but it allows banks to continue levying charges. It also allows banks to continue enforcement action even in relation to disputed bank charges. The FSA waiver has been assisted by a general stay on charges-related County Court claims. You are still permitted to begin a County Court claim for the refund of your charges but your claim will be put on hold pending the outcome of the OFT test case. Despite this, we recommend very strongly that you begin a County Court claim now!! If you are on benefits, you will not have to pay court fees. You should start a County Court claim to recover your money straightaway.

[tifo]

does this apply to only bank current accounts or credit cards as well?

[judi3]

AA

[hootcube]

To what stage should we continue upto? The LBA still to be sent in or just the first letter? Also how long do we think until this case goes to court? (i appreciate this may be guess work at moment but hopefully somebody with more experience than myself will be able to make an educated estimate)

	Small Claims kit by Lawpack Sue your bank as many times as you like with just one Small Claims kit by Lawpack. Follow this link to read the review. The kit contains everything you need: instruction manual, templates, examples, forms and a comprehensive CDRom. Applies to England and Wales

[PeterAnderson]

I have just read the Notice at the top of this forum

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk...php?f=11&a=107

Does this mean that ALL claims are now suspended ??
OR is there are date when this suspension of claims comes into effect ??

Oh dear, or dear - this could take ages (years even, knowing how quick the OFT are [NOT])

What happens next ??

[tifo]

Originally Posted by hootcube

Also how long do we think until this case goes to court?

high court cases take a long time. Could be up to 2 years or over 1 year.

[crfx250]

How the OFT works

So why is it the OFT have taken the plunge now?

Could it possibly be related to the two threats of legal action looming over
them for not taking action sooner? I rather think it could.

Here's their record on default charges so far:

Credit cards - April 2006: ''We wanted to bring about a swift change across the whole market in the shortest possible timeframe''

Bank charges - April 2007: ''There is no quick fix''

Bank charges - July 2007: ''The OFT considers that a quick determination of this point of principle will assist in securing a clear and orderly resolution of the fairness of these charges.

[tifo]

does it apply to all banks and for both current accounts and credit cards or only the banks listed as "Abbey; Barclays; Clydesdale; HSBC; HBOS; Lloyds TSB; Royal Bank of Scotland/NatWest; and Yorkshire banks; and Nationwide Building Society"?

[noomill060]

Only applies to current accounts.

Carry on regardless with credit card claims.

[noomill060]

The other banks can apply for a waiver, allowing them to suspend dealing with your claims and hold on to you money until the test case is over.

	Bank Charges You should have started your claim for your bank charges by now. Don't wait. You should send your bank a Subject Acess Request asking for all personal data they hold on you - not just statements. You should calculate all of your bank charges and related interest as far back as 1995. You should send your bank a demand for a refund giving them 7 days. You should commence your legal action adding 8% statutory interest. If you wait for the outcome of the test case, you may not be able to claim like this. you may not be able to claim interest. You may only be offered the difference between the charge and the OFT "fair charge". The repayment scheme will try to limit you to refinds from 2001 only. A repayment scheme will not deal with any bank charges related defaults on the credit register whereas in a court action you can ask for these to be removed and to be compensated for the damage caused to you and your family by them. You should also write to the bank and to the CRA and put all charges related credit entries in disupte and warn them that you will want them removed from the Register when the test case is over. Warn them also that you are likely to be seeking compensation for these wrongful data entries. Full and final settlement Have you previously accepted a partial repayment of your bank charges in full settlement? You will still be able to claim the rest of your money back after the Test case is decided. Get all your information back to 1995 and put in your claim now.

[noomill060]

Tom Brennan gets judgement on Monday.

[12thdomino]

I've made a claim with the bank but just about to take my court docs to court tomorrow, so do I still do this as well

I've had all the normal 'push offs' and time wasting bits

Including some brand new T&C's today that don't mention charges

It's now "Advanced overdraft service fees", and "Instant overdraft fees" ?? this is the Abbey

	Are you letting your bank keep your money Are you giving away thousands of pounds?? Many people aren't claiming all of the money they are entitled to when they make their bank charges claims. You have been forced to pay unfair bank charges. Have you forgotten that your bank has charged you inteest on those charges? If you are overdrawn and the bank owes you charges - then your overdraft is made up of charges - money which you bank owes you. Yet you are paying interest to the bank - on your own money!!! Follow this link to see the discussions on this. You might even double th size of your claim.