Don't lose out on bank charge rebates

With the Court of Appeal ruling that bank charges can be regulated by the Office of Fair Trading, the long-running battle against unfair charges may be coming to an end. So it is worth getting your rebate claim in now, before the floodgates open. Ruth Jackson explains how.

The chance to claw some money back from your bank took another step forward last week. The banks lost another battle in their war against reimbursing bank charges when the Court of Appeal ruledthat fees for unauthorised overdrafts and bounced cheques are subject to regulation by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) under 'unfair contract' rules. This clears the way for the OFT to rule on whether these charges are fair or not, and whether banks should be forced to reimburse customers who have been charged unfairly.

The Court of Appeal then dealt another blow to the banks by refusing to grant them permission to appeal to the House of Lords. Unfortunately, the banks may circumvent this by appealing directly to the law lords for permission to bring a final appeal, says The Times.

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Ruth Jackson-Kirby

Ruth Jackson-Kirby is a freelance personal finance journalist with 17 years’ experience, writing about everything from savings accounts and credit cards to pensions, property and pet insurance.

Ruth started her career at MoneyWeek after graduating with an MA from the University of St Andrews, and she continues to contribute regular articles to our personal finance section. After leaving MoneyWeek she went on to become deputy editor of Moneywise before becoming a freelance journalist.

Ruth writes regularly for national publications including The Sunday Times, The Times, The Mail on Sunday and Good Housekeeping, among many other titles both online and offline.