Millions of people 'could make bank charges claims'

Monday, November 23rd 2009

There are still millions of Britons who have not yet filed a complaint regarding bank charges, it has been claimed.

According to Which?, more than three-fifths of the 12 million people who have incurred such fees since July 2001 could yet put in a claim in the future.

This week will see the Supreme Court rule on the test case over unfair charges between a number of UK banks and the Office of Fair Trading.

If the latter wins, banks could see customers make a complaint to get any charges back.

According to a poll by Which?, four in ten of those who have put in a claim are hoping to get refunds worth £500 or more.

"With so much money at stake, the banks may well try to drag the process out even longer, so we'd warn people not to make any plans for their refunded cash just yet," commented Phil Jones, personal finance campaigner for Which?.

Consumers were previously able to claim refund on charges directly from their banks until July 2007, when the court case began.