Oft Test Case - Next Important Date?

[Bigmac versus]

Decision Upheld, Victory!!!

[phatram]

Bank Charges For Unauthorised Overdrafts 'Are Subject To Office Of Fair Trading Regulations' | Politics | Sky News

 

Bank charges appeal is thrown out

 

 

The appeal was heard at the Royal Courts of Justice in London

 

 

An appeal by eight banks against a ruling that a regulator can investigate the fairness of overdraft charges has been thrown out.

The Appeal Court ruled that the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has the power to look into the issue.

Master of the Rolls Sir Anthony Clarke said the banks could not appeal against the decision in the House of Lords.

Tens of thousands of claims currently on hold in the English and Scottish legal systems will stay frozen. Sir Anthony dismissed the appeal and told the banks they should now allow the OFT to decide whether their charges were fair or not. However, cases will stay frozen until the OFT has concluded its investigation.

Edited February 26, 2009 by phatram

[mr elmo]

BBC NEWS | Business | Bank charges appeal is thrown out

[mr elmo]

OFT Free to look at the banks terms under UTCCR. OFT's initial findings are that the charges are unfair.

 

Banks to appeal to House of Lords, stays in CC not lifted.

 

BBC NEWS | Business | Bank charges appeal is thrown out

"Master of the Rolls Sir Anthony Clarke said the banks could not appeal against the decision in the House of Lords. "

 

Which source is correct? is this really game over?

[Alphageek]

Everyone, even banks, have the right to seek leave to appeal.

 

Clarke refused leave, but the banks can ask the Lords to grant an appeal.

[HSBCrusher]

However, cases will stay frozen until the OFT has concluded its investigation.

[fergal71]

surely the oft investigation should be complete expecting this scenario as the earlier judge even asked them to to bring this farce to a swift end....

 

well done everyone on here and other forums it is thanks to everyone for fighting back.... in these tough times we will need all our fight to reduce the

gap between the classes to make us a much fairer society....

[ukaviator]

Bank charges appeal is thrown out

 

 

An appeal by eight banks against a ruling that a regulator can investigate the fairness of overdraft charges has been thrown out.

 

The Appeal Court ruled that the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has the power to look into the issue. Master of the Rolls Sir Anthony Clarke said the banks could not appeal against the decision in the House of Lords. Tens of thousands of claims currently on hold in the English and Scottish legal systems will stay frozen.

 

Sir Anthony dismissed the appeal and told the banks they should now allow the OFT to decide whether their charges were fair or not. However, cases will stay frozen until the OFT has concluded its investigation.

 

Unanimous decision

 

The banks had argued that their overdraft charges fell outside the scope of the 1999 Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts regulations.

 

However, the three Appeal Court judges rejected this. "We have unanimously concluded that the application should be refused," said Sir Anthony.

 

"The issues should now be resolved by an OFT assessment of fairness." If the banks wish to appeal further they will have to appeal directly to the House of Lords for permission.

 

Bank charges campaigners were delighted with the Appeal Court ruling. Chris Warner, of the consumers' association Which?, said: "It is great to see the Court of Appeal being so unequivocal in their guidance to the banks that this is the end of the road.

 

"They should now let the OFT do its job. The banks have the right to appeal to the House of Lords but the Court of Appeal could not have been clearer that that is not the appropriate way to go forward."

 

The British Bankers' Association (BBA) said: "These are important points of law. The courts can now go on to clarify the fairness of charges. Before that can happen the Office of Fair Trading [OFT] has to provide the courts with its views on how charges should be assessed."

 

Next stage

 

This is the latest stage of litigation between the OFT and eight banks which started in July 2007.

 

Since then, tens of thousands of claims for the return of overdraft charges have been frozen in the English and Scottish legal systems waiting for a test case to eventually decide if bank overdraft charges are fair or not. If the OFT ultimately wins the case, several billion pounds could potentially be refunded to millions of bank customers.

 

The banks must now decide if they wish to argue over the OFT's jurisdiction to the House of Lords or whether they should now proceed to a second round of court hearings over the issue of fairness itself.

 

Alternatively, they could try to cut a deal with the OFT to short-circuit the whole process if they felt they were likely to lose. A spokesman for the British Bankers' Association said: "These are important points of law. The courts can now go on to clarify the fairness of charges. Before that can happen the Office of Fair Trading has to provide the courts with its views on how charges should be assessed."

 

BBC Link here:

 

BBC NEWS | Business | Bank charges appeal is thrown out

[Baggio]

superb news.

 

any chance of a conspiracy from the OFT anf backing off, via governemnt instruction, so as not to loot the already ailing banks?

 

that is my fear

[ukaviator]

Statement on Bank Charges Test Case From The BBA.

 

""The court has not said fees are unfair just that they can be looked at to see if they are fair or not. The banks continue to believe that the Regulations do not apply to these type of charges. The banks will apply to the House of Lords for permission to appeal the Court of Appeal's decision. The banks will work with the OFT to ensure the next stages in the test case process are progressed as quickly as possible.""

 

 

BBA – British Bankers' Association - Statement on Bank Charges Test Case

[whizzkid001]

OFT welcomes Court of Appeal judgment

 

21/09 26 February 2009

 

The OFT welcomes the Court of Appeal's very clear confirmation today that the unarranged overdraft charging terms for personal current accounts can be assessed for fairness.

 

The Court found that these terms are not part of the core or essential bargain between a consumer and their bank, and therefore consumers do have protection under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations (UTCCRs) for these terms.

 

This judgment confirms the OFT's long-held interpretation of this important aspect of consumer law, and is one that consumers themselves would identify with. It is also relevant to businesses across the whole economy.

We are now analysing the implications of the judgment for our ongoing investigation. The OFT has already written to the banks with its provisional view on the fairness of the terms, setting out its concerns that they may be unfair. We expect to reach a final decision on fairness later this year

[JGJ]

TAKE THAT YOU HORRIBLE BUNCH OF "ANKERS!!

Lets hope the OFT. "NOW"

play the Lets Look After The Consumers Game.

Well done to ALL on the CAG site absolutely brilliant.

Wil still keep my fingers crossed, as I aint heard that fat lady sing yet!!

"EXEMPLO DUCEMUS":D:D:D

[Enron]

Upto a £35 penalty charge for a breach of contract that costs them upto £2.50, thats one hell of a profit.

 

But then again its all about the bottom line, forget hardship to the customer, forget the law, its all about the MONEY.

 

BBC News was debating a cashless society last week..... you've got to worry about a society where the banks are given more and more power, and you'd certainly have to question the stance of any politican that proposed such a move.

[dolly]

Almost two years to the day since my claim was put into the system, good news arrives.

 

It has been my thinking for a while now that the banks would do well to pay out, as it may well get the economy moving. Estimates that there is up to £1b pounds to pay back to customers is a huge amount of money.

 

There will be an awful lot of people (myself included) who will spend their refunds on treats for themselves rather than save it which will be a great boost to the economy in the times that we are in.

 

Hopefully the banks will give up the fight now and the OFT will move quickly.

 

Fingers crossed

[Natalie6999]

So has anyone got any ideas/opinions in how long this investigation will take & when will the hold on refunds be lifted?

[ncf355]

I wouldnt be at all surprised if it went on another year at least

[JGJ]

If Sir Fred donated all/some of his pension I am sure it would go a long way to paying off another part of the mess they left us in. :D

[photoman]

From the BBA:

""The court has not said fees are unfair just that they can be looked at to see if they are fair or not.

The banks continue to believe that the Regulations do not apply to these type of charges.

The banks will apply to the House of Lords for permission to appeal the Court of Appeal's decision.

The banks will work with the OFT to ensure the next stages in the test case process are progressed as quickly as possible.""

 

 

 

errr..... don't the last 2 sentences sort of contradict each other ??

[ncf355]

Have to say, in my case I had two o/d's of many thousands (made up entirely of charges and interest upon said charges)

 

Got cheesed off with paying money in just to have it taken in charges, so I opened a parachute and told them to stick it

 

Since then I've had around 3 letters (in the space of about 5 months) from the banks solicitors telling me all the horrible court action thats coming my way if I dont pay up

 

I wrote one letter at the start explaining my position and that I had already written to their customer service stating the refunds I required only to be told the usual crap about the waiver, so consequently I would not be addressing the debt until the oFT resolves the issue

 

Which of course leaves them with 1 option only:

 

Court

 

and if they do that I'll enter a counterclaim and get the court to stay pending the OFT decision

 

So SCM/Lloyds, feel free to send me as much waste paper as you like, I quite frankly couldnt give a rats backside

 

[blueboy987]

Is this latest ruling really anything to get excited about? It just seems like another small step in a very long process which could still be years away from resolution.

 

At the moment all that is being decided in the courts is whether the OFT has the jurisdiction to say whether the charges are fair or not. The banks have said they will appeal the latest decision to the House of Lords and will no doubt keep appealing it until they have run out of appeals. Anyone know if they can take this above the House of Lords, ie to the EU courts?

 

Once this issue has been settled the OFT will then most likely rule the charges unfair. At which point the banks will start a new court process over whether the charges are unfair or not. A process which could also take a very long time to be completed, with the banks no doubt intending to appeal it all the way again. The banks will probably find something else to go to court over after that.

 

The whole point of this going to court was to resolve it quickly and permanently, but the banks seem to have no intention of doing this. Why can't the banks be hit with or threatened with penalties for their deliberate and continual slow balling tactics?

 

Personally, whilst I'll be owed a lot of money from my bank its not causing me any financial hardship at the moment. But I'm sure there are lots of people to whom this would make a massive difference, saving them a lot of financial hardship and maybe even saving them from having their homes repossessed.

 

When the banks finally do pay up, I hope they find a way of making them pay for all of the consequences of their actions and not just the charges they've unfairly levied on customers.

[srfrench]

Hi Blue

 

Firstly let me set your's and many other peeps mind to rest.

 

Permission to Appeal to the House og Lords has been refused.

 

However the Banks can ask for permission to apply for the right to Appeal.

 

Frankly, it won't be given! (IMHO)

 

If it gets refused then that's it...it's set in stone and history. There will be no appeal or application to the EU Courts.

 

On a downer, and whilst it won't happen here, I was in the Court System for 5 years for my claim to finally be resolved, not Bank Charge related but financial to do with shares. I know all the shennigins that the companies can throw up...but as i've said earlier, it won't happen here.

 

I am also owed a lot of money.......original charges total just short of £4000

 

With interest..it's now standing at over £48,000

 

Interest is going up now by £80-£90 a day and yes it is calculated correctly quoting SEMPRA.

 

Hope that helps?

[noomill060]

When the question of the charges is finally resolved, the real battle will have to begin- the damage that unlawful charges and interest have done to everyone's credit ratings and the past court actions for "recovery" of charges, bankruptcies, homes lost and charging orders placed on properties after CCJs etc.

 

Its going to get very, very messy with lots of blood on the carpet.

 

How would you feel if you had a charging order on your home for a "debt" made up of unlawful charges and lost your home as a result?

 

I'd be out for blood and lots of it.

[noomill060]

Ive got bank statements showing charges from 1987....

[srfrench]

Well start the bloody claim then.........the Limitations Act does not apply as it's a mistake in Law.

 

What they have done was ultimately unlawful. So yes....chop their nuts off and ask for blood and plenty of it!

[Camdenite]

Interest is going up now by £80-£90 a day and yes it is calculated correctly quoting SEMPRA.

 

 

I'm in a similar position, although with nothing like that sort of interest accruing.

 

It's feasible that the OFT could recommend that only charges above, say £12, as per CC's, should be refunded, right?

 

Would the OFT encourage claimants to accept whatever the banks we're offering as the difference between their charge and the £12 + SI?

 

If that is their conclusion, how vigorously would banks defend claims including CCI going forward and are the OFT in a position to make a recomendation concerning that also?