According to officials from the Office of Fair Trading the verdict relating to bank charges in the UK is now set to be delivered this week, after recent reports that there could be a further delay of up to three months with regards to delivery of the verdict. The High Court test case into banks charges took place in January of this year, and the presiding judge said that he needed time to consider the evidence and facts that stemmed from the case before he reached a decision.
A recent report suggested that the verdict relating to the case was being delayed for a further three months, and many people that thought the verdict would come in April initially prepared themselves for a further wait until July. However, in an unexpected announcement the Office of Fair Trading has announced that the verdict is set to be delivered this coming Thursday.
The verdict will determine whether the terms and conditions of banks in relation to bank charges can be assessed for fairness by the Office of Fair Trading, and whether the charges fall under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations. If it is decided that the OFT can assess the banks’ terms for fairness officials from the watchdog say they will determine what steps need to be taken next in order to address the issue of bank charges.
If banks lose the case and the OFT is able to assess banks charges then a reduction in these credit cards charges could see banks having to pay out billions of pounds in past charges to customers. Hundreds of millions of pounds have already been paid out by the UK’s major banks over the past couple of years according to recent reports, but last summer pending claims were put on hold in order for the test case to go through.