frequently-asked questions
complaints about bank charges
what's happening on complaints about unauthorised overdraft charges?
The Financial Ombudsman Service – and courts across the country – have put individual complaints about unauthorised overdraft charges on hold, while waiting for some important legal decisions to be made.
The Financial Services Authority (FSA) has also agreed that banks can suspend their work on complaints about these charges, until the legal position is clarified.
what's the legal position on unauthorised overdraft charges?
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT), seven UK banks (Abbey, Barclays, Clydesdale, HBOS, HSBC, Lloyds TSB and RBS) and Nationwide Building Society brought a "test case" to the High Court – to get answers to important legal questions about bank charges for unauthorised overdrafts.
Some of these legal questions about bank charges have now been answered – but not all of them. This is a complex process and the "test case" may take some time, before all the issues are resolved.
The OFT has a questions-and-answers section on its website about the legal "test case". And the FSA also publishes information about progress on this legal action.
I'm not happy with my bank's response to my complaint about charges – can the ombudsman get involved?
We need to know the final outcome of this important legal action, before we can make decisions in individual complaints about unauthorised overdraft charges. The law is one of the things that the ombudsman has to take into account when we decide cases. So we have decided not to continue our work on unauthorised overdraft charges until the legal position has been clarified.
my complaint is already with the ombudsman service - what does the "test case" mean for me?
If you have already referred your complaint about bank charges to the ombudsman service, we will continue to hold onto your case – until the important legal questions have been answered. You don't need to do anything else right now. We'll be in touch with you, when we have news to report.
I haven't complained yet about unauthorised overdraft charges on my account - does this mean I'm too late?
You can complain now to your bank or building society - or you can wait until the "test case" issues have been finally resolved. If you complain now, your bank or building society must acknowledge and record your complaint – and keep you updated on developments in the "test case". But the complaint will not be dealt with until the legal position has been clarified.
what about complaints that involve bank charges as well as other banking-related problems such as financial difficulty?
It should usually be possible to deal with all the parts of a complaint except the part that relates specifically to whether bank charges are lawful or not. So it's likely that only the bank charges issue would remain on hold – while we wait for the important legal questions in that area to be settled.
If you have a case of genuine financial difficulty, your bank or building society must still handle your complaint. If you're not happy with their response, we can look to see if we are able to deal with your case before the legal position on bank charges has been settled under the "test case" legal action.