More on unfair bank charges

lil eva · More on unfair bank charges

HSBC said it could take a $600 million (300 million pounds) hit from a court case into whether British bank charges are legal and fair, raising the prospect that customers could win billions in refunds from banks.

A test case on UK bank charges began earlier this year in the High Court and is expected to be a long legal battle. HSBC is the first to outline the potential full impact.

"Based on the facts currently available to it, and a number of assumptions, HSBC Bank Plc estimates that the financial impact could be approximately $600 million," the bank said in its annual report.

That would be on top of refunds of 115 million pounds it paid out last year, before refunds were suspended across the industry pending the court decision.

Joe Garner, general manager of HSBC's UK personal financial services, said the figure was "a best estimate" made by auditors and there was a wide range of estimates.

There are a number of potential outcomes for the case, ranging from charges being deemed fair to banks being forced to refund charges for the past six years and paying compensation.

Britain's major banks and the consumer watchdog are seeking to provide clarity on a long running dispute on the charges applied to unauthorised account overdrafts, after thousands of customers reclaimed millions of pounds in refunds but banks continued to impose the fees.

The charges, typically between 24 and 39 pounds for each unauthorised overdraft, should be regarded as unfair under consumer contract regulation, the Office of Fair Trading says.

Banks paid out more than 400 million pounds in refunds in the first half of 2007, but say the charges are fair and clear.

Twong

Bank charges are unfair and illegal !

If you have an account with the big five
get out now!

will_lufc

who are the big 5

Twong

HSBC, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, HBOS and Lloyds

Fupp Halifax enall !!! TWOTS

I'm with Nationwide BS

That'll piss Halifax off to the tune of £100,000 w@nkers

will_lufc

cheers mate

i hate them buggers halifax i closed my account down with them a few years ago now.
atm im with abbey seem ok been with them over 15 years

Twong

This guy's good
check it out...

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/

will_lufc

thanks i will have a good look at that later

Chrissy Canadian

i am with td canada trust

in canada we have the royal bank of canada, bank of nova scotia, bank of montreal, td canada trust, canadian imperial bank of commerce and we also have hsbc as well. they are all bastards lol

will_lufc

pmsl

Rach!