Bank charges data released by government

A freedom of information request from pressure group Legal Beagles has revealed that at least 65,000 people currently have their bank charge claims frozen.

The penalty fees - which see banks charging customers £35 a time for offences such as exceeding overdraft limits - caused a consumer revolt in 2007.

So great was the volume of claims cases that the Financial Services Authority obtained a waiver that year - leaving customers in limbo and awaiting the result of a High Court test case on the matter.

However, this case has yet to be resolved, leaving the claimants unsure as to whether or not they will get their money back.

The claims figures were released by the Ministry of Justice MoJ.

Julian Siddle, a spokesperson for Legal Beagles, told the BBC: "People are still incurring charges even though banks have obtained a waiver, so they don't have to deal with new complaints."

The group's Nick Spooner added: "The 65,000 figure only applies to the cases which the MoJ was absolutely sure related to claims against banks for the return of overdraft charges.

"There are others that the MoJ couldn't pick up when searching its database, because of the different ways in which people had written their claims. Meanwhile thousands more claims are piling up with the banks themselves."

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2009-02-19 15:47:51 © Moneyextra.com