Office Of Fair Trading Test Case

[tifo]

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?

[tifo]

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

[tifo]

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.

[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"?

[tifo]

what about offers they've sent? I've had some 50% offers this week and a few with the Ombudsman. Good thing i accepted some last week.

[tifo]

on channel 4 the banking representive specified that thiS action was for Unfair overdraft fees NOT PENALTY CHARGES

 

what's the difference?

 

when we don't have enough money in our account and go OVERDRAWN they make a charge (i see the point that the charge is for returning the payment and not going overdrawn).

 

what exactly are unfair overdraft fees and why does this not apply to charges?

[tifo]

Penalty charges are unlawful...

 

so our claims for refund of charges for returned payments are OK .... yet?

 

people are getting confused, we need clarification.

[tifo]

In effect, if the banks win, the result of the case will be void before the high court reaches its verdict.

 

How so?

[tifo]

If we can't get payouts, doesn't it stand to reason that banks shouldn't collect "penalties" during this period either?

 

don't think so. They'll carry in charging .....

 

as always, the consumer gets kicked ....

[tifo]

this is why i have had many banks 'reviewing' their offers for the last 6 weeks through the Ombudsman, and the FOS full well know this is coming but let the banks take their time.

[tifo]

our market study into personal current accounts will examine the economic impact of "free if in credit " current accounts and will examine the potential impact of any charges in this charging structure on consumers, including on financial inclusions.

 

Doesn't answer the question of banks being able to carry on charging.

Prior to the test case , the scale of consumer litigation for the return of bank charges was resulting in conflicting outcomes and significant costs to individual consumers.

 

Well, nearly everyone did get their court costs back as well as all the charges, consistently.

 

it would not be appropriate for us to ask the banks to make changes to their charging structure at this time. Further , we have not yet completed our market study assessment of the potential impact of such changes.

 

Yet we allow banks to stop having to pay out. Is that appropriate?

 

however it has set strict conditions that banks must follow , designed to ensure consumers ability to recoup charges levied prior to or during the test case , will be unaffected.

 

Yes, like stopping them from making any claim with the FOS and court.

: Not make materially adverse changes to the level of charges during the waiver;

 

Well, changing the whole charging structure is a pretty big material change.

 

: Continue to deal with genuine hardship cases during the waiver period.

 

Most just ignore customer requests.

 

We have consulted with consumer representative bodies like Which? the NCC and the CAB in connection with our investigation into bank charges.

 

Yet CAG, penalty charges site and Martin Lewis have helped more people than all the above put together.

 

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my 1000th post !!!

[tifo]

If your claim is stayed but the bank still try to recover any debt which includes penalty charges then you can apply to have the stay lifted & your case will proceed.

 

What if the bank sells the account to a DCA while putting your claim on hold re test case, but you haven't started court proceedings? They say it is legal to sell it as the account is not in dispute because the charges have not yet been proven unlawful.

 

Can you issue a court claim and if a stay is granted, state that the bank has already taken enforcement action by selling the debt while putting your own complaint on hold and that the amount sold included penalty charges therefore the stay should be lifted?

 

Re your statement, why will the claim proceed. Is this common law or does the court state this as part of the stay?

 

Just asking to get things clear.