Consumer pressure mounts for bank fee refunds
May 1, 2007 by admin
Filed under News, News-Banking
The consumer campaign to reclaim the fees banks charge when a cheque bounces or customers exceed their overdraft limit was given fresh impetus this week when barrister Tom Brennan took his bank, NatWest, to court.
Mr Brennan, who is 30 and newly qualified, has said he would be putting his personal finances on the line by suing NatWest for alleged injustice, abuse of power and unlawful conduct.
His case is in its early stages as he seeks permission from the City of London County Court to sue the bank.
But it could become an important test-case for other consumers as well as improving awareness of the issue.
Mr Brennan’s case rests on his claim that the charges are “unfair because they do not reflect the actual loss to the defendant”.
To charge a customer £38 when a payment bounces is, he argues, “egregiously invidious” because it is disproportionate to the administrative cost to the bank.
Millions of people have now written to their banks to demand that penalty charges be refunded immediately.
