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Bank charges result due next week | This is Money
The long-awaited judgment on bank charges is due to be announced at the Supreme Court next Wednesday morning.
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The eight High Street banking institutions at the centre of a legal wrangle with the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) over bank charges have already lost a High Court case and an appeal case. This is Money recently revealed there are more than 1.1m people with bank charge claims on hold totaling billions of pounds, who are eagerly waiting this announcement along with millions of others who have yet to put in a claim.
Although this could be the final stage in a legal battle that has taken over two years' to complete, the banks still reserve the right to fight further in the European courts, which could delay a final decision for years.
Even if the banks cede defeat next week, they could also delay a final resolution by starting a new legal case next year: the Supreme Court case only decides whether the OFT has the right to assess whether the charges are fair, which means the banks could take it to court once again after it has published its findings.
Once the OFT has released its report – which is widely expected to lambast the charges that were once £39 a time for falling into an unauthorised overdraft – the banks could once again drag the issue back through the High Court and Supreme Court.
Marc Gander from the lobbying organisation Consumer Action Group believes they are unlikely to prolong the battle any further.
He said: 'We are confident the OFT will win and find the charges are unfair, but will banks accept that and join the rest of society? Technically, they could ask for a judicial review in the High Court and, failing that, go back to the Supreme Court again.
'I don't think they'll do that though as their reputation has already been dragged through the mud. I don't think the politicians would stand for it. This is going to be the end of it.'
He added there are some serious complications around the return of the cash, however, such as whether it will be automatic, whether customers should receive additional interest payments and how to handle those debts that have been sold on to collection agencies.
The total cost of the case could rise to £20bn if the banks are forced to refund all charges levied on the industry's 44.5m customers – whether they have tried to reclaims them or not – the equivalent of £450 each.
The long-awaited judgment on bank charges is due to be announced at the Supreme Court next Wednesday morning.
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The eight High Street banking institutions at the centre of a legal wrangle with the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) over bank charges have already lost a High Court case and an appeal case. This is Money recently revealed there are more than 1.1m people with bank charge claims on hold totaling billions of pounds, who are eagerly waiting this announcement along with millions of others who have yet to put in a claim.
Although this could be the final stage in a legal battle that has taken over two years' to complete, the banks still reserve the right to fight further in the European courts, which could delay a final decision for years.
Even if the banks cede defeat next week, they could also delay a final resolution by starting a new legal case next year: the Supreme Court case only decides whether the OFT has the right to assess whether the charges are fair, which means the banks could take it to court once again after it has published its findings.
Once the OFT has released its report – which is widely expected to lambast the charges that were once £39 a time for falling into an unauthorised overdraft – the banks could once again drag the issue back through the High Court and Supreme Court.
Marc Gander from the lobbying organisation Consumer Action Group believes they are unlikely to prolong the battle any further.
He said: 'We are confident the OFT will win and find the charges are unfair, but will banks accept that and join the rest of society? Technically, they could ask for a judicial review in the High Court and, failing that, go back to the Supreme Court again.
'I don't think they'll do that though as their reputation has already been dragged through the mud. I don't think the politicians would stand for it. This is going to be the end of it.'
He added there are some serious complications around the return of the cash, however, such as whether it will be automatic, whether customers should receive additional interest payments and how to handle those debts that have been sold on to collection agencies.
The total cost of the case could rise to £20bn if the banks are forced to refund all charges levied on the industry's 44.5m customers – whether they have tried to reclaims them or not – the equivalent of £450 each.
