Bank Charges Fiasco!

I can't help feeling the banks and building societies are finally getting their comeuppance. When I left the UK I closed my main account having been ripped off like everyone else for direct debit mistakes (which were not my fault!) Naturally, the bank refused to take responsibility and charged me outrageous amounts in charges over the last few years.

The Office of Fair Trading has now ruled that these ridiculous charges were indeed completely out of proportion to the true costs of the "administration" charges incurred as a result. They say the true charge was probably in the region of £2.00!

The banks have not been given leave to appeal the decision to refund these charges although they may still attempt to appeal to the House of Lords if the Law Lords give them permission. They have 28 days to lodge an appeal. Meanwhile, the OFT is still debating how much we can claim back from the thieving bastards.

If you have not yet claimed for your money back Martin Lewis' website has all the details on how to claim and a template letter for you to send to the bank.

Seems ironic that these refunds will be paid with our own money in some cases, notice how high the RBS is on the above chart as an offender! The impact of these refunds to banking customers will surely damage the banks quite substantially. I wonder if we will have to give it all back to them in another bailout? 

The mind boggles!