I found out today that there is an act of parliament that overrides the stay for hardship see below: in July 2007 the Office of Fair Trading agreed with seven major high street banks to a test case to determine the legality of Bank Charges. This effectively has put all claims on hold until the case is decided. However, there is an Act of Parliament which over-rides this if you are in receipt of any of the following benefits. Income Support Tax Credits Child Benefit Job seekers allowance Incapacity benefit Disability living allowance Attendance Allowance CSA payments Other DWP payments. These benefits are granted to stop hardship and are designed to meet basic day to day needs, and are protected under the Social Security Administration Act 1992 sub section 187. This stipulates that the bank can not apply any charges to money received as benefit, and any such charges are unlawful and therefore disallowed. Hope this helps