I do think that the charges were far too high.  However, I think this ruling may see the end of free banking as we know it.  People who are prudent with their finances will now have to pay for those who are not!

We don?t have free banking in the UK anyway. We have 'fees-free' banking for the in-credit; ask most people with overdrafts if their bank is free!

I agree with the two posters re charges.  But in large part the onus has to be on the banks also. The managers and staff in high street branches are told to sell sell sell - anything from loans and pensions to mortgages and credit cards; I've been called at work by my bank asking me various security questions to confirm who I am before they have tried to sell me something!  I don't have an overdraft but the bank still sent me a letter recently telling me that my £800 overdraft limit facility has now been increased to £2,000.

"....People who are prudent with their finances will now have to pay for those who are not!"

It's not just imprudent people who are penalised. And why should we be penalised extortionate fees -to line the banks coffers? The whole point is that the charges should be FAIR.

I'm currently living and working in Australia, where it's standard practice for banks to charge their customers current account administration fees, and withdrawal fees from cash machines.

I suspect we may see the same situation in the UK once this case has run its course.

Personally, I would much rather the status quo had remained, i.e. banks being too scared to contest penalty charges in court, and refunding customers who bothered to complain.

I agree with the above poster. This could mean an end to free banking in the UK in the medium to longer term. Banks have an uncanny knack of always getting their money. Anyone tried to renew their mortgage recently...........?

We will NOT be seeing the prudent paying for the imprudent, we will see the end of the imprudent paying for the prudent!!

The so-called "imprudent" will be charged a "fair" amount rather than paying their dues + a bit extra to subsidise the banking of everyone else.  Yes, "free" banking will disappear, but it's right that people pay for what they use - no-one seriously thinks that it costs the banks nothing to provide cash machines and the like.

As with many other contributors I will object if I now have to pay for other peoples failure to manage their finances. The high level of charges was not just to cover costs but was intended to dissuade people from going overdrawn. They are after all "stealing" money from the Bank. As someone who has never been o/d in more than 40 years I don't see why I should be penalised.

They are free to decline a transaction, simply put it doesn't cost them £70 to decide whether or not to pay your transaction and send you a letter explaining how they're robbing you.

Most people who suffer these charges find that they are perpetual... last months charge puts you in a position to be charged this month too, since I received my money in full last July I have not been fined once, because I haven't been overdrawn, I think this is the same for most people who suffer these charges.

We would like to see a refund on early mortgage payment (redemption)penalty fees.This is one of the contributing factors for homeowners to go into trouble with their mortgages. This should be given back to customers because is increasing poverty amongst homeowners . Cheers!

This news could not have come at a beter time as I am close to the end of my discount period and am trying to remortgage over to another building society in a cost effective manner. While the next building society is willing to accept part of my buy to let portfolio, I am penalised by a 5% exit fee (of mortgage) being requested from the existing lender. To avoid the fee I am willing to move the mortgage value on to those properties not being remortgaged and leave them with the existing lender. I hope common sense prevails otherwise, I will need to leverage off the OFT decision.

It sickens me to the core reading the posts from the comfortably off (and I?m one of them now), whining that they may be called upon to pay for the services that they all enjoyed for free, subsidised by those whose finances are perhaps a little shaky and who have been tempted by the ?free? overdrafts, loans and credit that have made the banks the incredible and disgusting profits that they post year on year. It is a chicken and egg scenario ? free banking was not possible before huge profits were routinely and unlawfully sucked from the accounts of those who could least afford to lose the money. Anyone in doubt as to the legality of the banks practices should be reminded that the High Court has just spent months listening to their top-drawer barristers and saw straight through the whinging to the core of the issue ? the banks have been stealing our money. It?s as simple as that. I can understand the frustration of the well-off; they will now have to fork back what the banks have been caught stealing from us and passing on to them by way of perks and freebies. Perhaps all those dividend cheques and merger windfalls should have been a little less generous! Hand the cash back to where it came from, our accounts. And do it immediately. Perhaps you too will discover just how accommodating the banks really are when you have a little less cash in your account. God forbid, you might accidentally go into the red due to some erroneous direct debit transaction. Try and savour being told by someone half your age with no kids or a mortgage and who?s main monthly expense is his pimped hatchback because he still lives with mum and dad (in spite of a huge employee mortgage interest discount), that ?you really should be managing your finances a little better??

In response to Dereks comments, the banks ARE allowed to charge those people who become overdrawn, however the law decrees that the charges are there purely to cover the costs incurred, not as a punitive measure. What this case has proved is that the majority of banks have been using this facility as a method of increasing their revenue rather than covering their costs. (For example, my bank charges £30 for every transaction that exceeds my balance or agreed overdraft level. For this I do not recieve a letter for every transaction, it is merely itemised at the end of my Monthly statement, something they have already agreed to send to me. Since these transactions are refused automatically, and the statement is generated automatically, I would be charged £30 for less than a cubic centimeter of toner.) All we are asking for is fair charges, within the current rules. If the banks feel that they are losing too much profit a minute percentage increase in the amount of interest charged on all overdrafts would cover it. I doubt very much that market forces would allow the banks to charge large fees for current accounts that remain in credit, we are all wise enough to shop for the best deal these days and those banks who tried to penalise those in credit would find their customers rapidly moving to a bank or building society that offered a fair rate.

I am comfortable, but have not always been so and for that reason I can truly understand the effect of high bank charges and the downward spiral of greater debt that they can have. A simple charge can make you over the limit without immediate knowledge. There's also the chain effect of bounced cheques because of charges taking you over the limit. If you deposit a cheque that later bounces and depend on that deposit being good to write your own cheque, before you know it, you can be paying dearly too.

More recently, son attended a college and worked a part time job. He opened an account for his wages to be paid into. An overdraft was arranged for him without his knowledge(his mail still coming home, which I did not open). He presumed that if he could get money out of a cash machine then he must have money in the account, Yipee at the time! But wrong in reality!

From a spend of about £150 the bill became about £400 in less than 1 year. It was absolutely devastating to him. He wrote a letter of explanation as requested by the bank. He received no absolutely response to his letter. As an outsider, all I could see was that they would rather apply extra charges. As they did.

I think that now is the time to deal with this!

It's about time that banks stopped automatically giving overdrafts unless asked for.  

As for those who are fortunate enough to have never needed a little help or who can manage finances, please be grateful and try not to judge those less fortunate. Stop thinking about yourself. Please!

Banks have been taking money without mutual consent, (check your terms and conditions), regardless of the amount in your account. Regardless of the cost of the service, you should not be taken overdrawn by the bank for a charge, which they apply without any letter sent. So if you think just because you have money does not mean mistakes can happen. Even if you have millions, if someone takes from your account without your permission, you want it back, right? As for free banking, think interest they pay for your credit @ 5.25%, but to borrow is 25%+. So banking has never been free. Many years ago they had a system of charging per transaction, when it was done manually, but today it is all automated so how can it cost anything at all? Charges are penalties, and the house of lords said that you can only recover loss due to breach of contract to the value of the loss, not impose a fee that is profiteering. If you want to keep your money secure and know exactly what money is where, open a post office account and buy a prepaid credit card. The banks would then get addition profit from mortgages, so you loss however you deal with a bank. Bring back bartering.

Free Banking? I pay £15 a month for the pleasure of having an overdraft, whether I'm overdrawn or not. The banks make money with OUR money, investing it in various markets round the world. It's unfair that they should charge as much as they do and I'm in favour of this outcome.

If banks are going to start charging per transaction as they do with business accounts, that will open up the competition to any bank that does not charge per transaction!

It is my right to be paid by cheque if I so ask, and I can take that cheque to the bank it is drawn on and cash it over the counter. I do not necessarily need a bank account, it's just convenient to have one.

If we all start closing accounts (after getting our refunds) because of per-transaction charges they'll soon change their tune!

I have worked in Banking for several years now and when I first started customers had to keep a balance of £100 credit in their account or they would be asked to make 'alternative arrangements'. Should consumers have overdraft facilities the limits are set for a reason that they can borrow up to the agreed amount. This should not be exceeded in any shape or form!! But even in today's financial climate account holders still issue cheques when they know funds will not be available on their accounts immediately, in this case why shouldn't the Banks levy a penalty charge. Local authorities believe its ok to levy penalty charges if you exceed your parking ticket!!
Telephone & on-line banking services make it easier for the customer to keep a check on their accounts. Therefore THEY ARE at fault and only have themselves to blame and should indeed be punished. Whatever the findings of the OFT may be, if Banks are forced to rethink Bank charges then I believe it will be the end of fee free overdrafts on personal accounts. Customers will definitely not like being asked to an arrangement fee of £150 for their overdraft facility.  Well done the moaners you have succeeded in inflicting this on the majority of customers who run their accounts in the manner expected of them. BRAVO!!!  BRAVO!!!

I would just like to comment on the posting by becky smith.  as some of the other posters have said, we do not have totally free banking as it is!!!! and i would ask the people in the banking world to answer a question i have. Up until recently i had a "clean sheet" with the bank i am with, but due to ill health i unfortunatly fell foul of bank charges levied onto my account. some of these charges outweighed my in commings by quite a fair margin. when i became ill i made a appointment with my local manager to discuss my situation. on 5, i repeat 5!!! separate occasions my appointment was re- arranged as there were "unforseen problems" so i went to the next stage up to try to get help. same thing happened. Then i received a very unfair and strong worded letter from my bank manager stating that my account would be suspended if not brought into line within 5 days. totally unsuspectingly i received a very large winfall from the passing of a relative. now that this money is now in the hands of my account, the manager has all the time in the world!!!! you say becky that customers are at fault and these charges are fair. so what i am asking is until i had that winfall i was not worthy of even a phoncall, but now im better then the proverbial sliced bread. to me that screams of no matter how you conduct your account as long as you came give them money your great.

Sorry I dont agree with the above statements that people who are good with money will have to pay for those who are not! the bank charges affect those on low incomes, i'm a student nurse and work part time my partners disabled and looks after our 8 mth old baby. i have no set dates for my buersery or work wage to go into my account but i still have bills coming out last month i paid out £260 in charges of bounced direct debts and cheque's all because they tried to take the money out at 1 in the morning and my money didnt go in until 6am. That was what i got told by Abbey and i still had to pay them. which left me overdrawn and means i have to pay more charges. Every penney counts for me and my family and those charges ment me and the other half had to live off jacket potatoes, beans and cheese for a MONTH. Thats not fair we couldnt even afford to buy the babys nappys. When i was earning £60k + a year abbey couldnt do enough to help now they dont care and its the same with all banks. the charges are way to high and the way they charge is a joke. my bills have always been paid on time. I dont mind paying for My mistakes but not theres and i understand that they have costs but £35?
The only thing im worried about is people losing there jobs with whats to come. coz they wont allow it to affect their profits!!

It's about time the banks paid for their daylight robery of hard working people. I fell into dificulty with my direct debits when my pay changed from mounthly to 4 weekly what this means is that my payday is differant every mounth so I may get paid 1 day after my DD are due I spoke to my bank and asked for a small overdraft to help me out with this but was refused as a result one mounth I was charged £500 and told that I should manage my account better and should call the bank to get advice / help but when I call the bank they offer no advice or help just want to know when I will pay their fees and also told that as im overdrawn I Will be charged again next month for being overdrawn and so the circle continues. the banks charge my account and i go overdrawn and get charged again ...

I am owed around £600 in unfair bank charges, and have already had my claim letter acknowledged by lloyds tsb. i came into financial difficulty due to one of their loans, when they set up a direct debit to my bank account without informing me, apparently to take out the money i was paying onto the loan every month, yet some twit at the bank hadnt made a note that i had said that i didnt want a DD setting up, and that i would go into the bank and pay the minimum amount off the loan myself every month via cash. i tried to resolve the situation many times, but by the time they acknowledged what i was saying, they had racked up this extra debt for me and sent my case to their collections department who apparently can set up DD's on ur bank account without your knowledge or authorisation. So i still owe them £1200 for a loan that was originally for the amount of £1500, they are charging me interest and half of the loan is actually their unfair bank charges. hopefully this test case thing will eventually rule that they have to pay me £600 back onto the loan, therefore clearing a debt that i shouldnt have, but do have, due to some twit in one of the bank's branches.

My sister was also charged £35 per day by lloyds tsb last year for being SLIGHTLY overdrawn on her account at xmas, but they charged her on the 24th dec, 25th dec, 26th dec, when they knew she couldn't have gone into the bank to do anything about it, and she ended up having to pay the charges even when she explained her case!! The banks are evil!!

after reading your advice ,that it was an offence for banks to take charges from a persons account,if that persons main income was made up from benifits according to the Social Security Administration Act 1992 section 187,Iwrote to my bank requesting all charges to be repaid as my income is made up of benifits.The bank replied to me that your information was a misinterpretaion of the act,and that the banks are allowed to take charges from benifits,who is right the bank, or yourselves.

i am a small business can i claim too?

I was on Maternity leave from work & advised my bank that I would need some help.  They said there was nothing they could do.  Consequently, every month for the last 6 months I was getting charged in excess of £150-£250 in unauthorised overdraft fees & bounced D.D fees.
I asked for their help in this short space of time & they refused so I'm quite pleased at this ruling!

I work for a bank and like any other it still runs like a business.  The old fashion way was to help individuals sort out there finances, unfortunately in this day and age things have changed.  I am happy for the ruling but on the sorry side feel for the financial institutions especially the way the finacial industry is heading..... and word of advice before you sign up to any accounts or agreements - read the small prints.

In response to Louise above, Yes, you can claim business charges back, and I would start immediately. There is a section in the ruling that could potentially make your claim more difficult, get on to it before it is passed into precedent.

For me I have had serious debt issues due to the break-up of my marriage. Same level of debt with half the income is not fun.

Yes I ran up an overdraft, only because the my employer went into administration, so my account was downgraded to a very basic account, at my request.

This means that I cannot be charged for the overdraft.

Once that was paid back I canotinued to manage my financial commitments from
my basic account without an overdraft.(therefore no charges). I still get charges from DD's being taken too early.

They get sent back to the banks legal team - telling them that they have attempted an unmandated transfer which is a breach of their contract with me, please compensate me by £35 plus contratual interest of 9% as per the terms and conditions of the contract Sx Px.

They always cancel the charge.

It doesn't prevent them trying it on regularly though, but damn sure I am not being put at detriment for their breach.

Serves them right. They have been ripping us all off for years. All that money the greedy gits have. It's justice, and it's about time we started fighting them back, the thieves.

I was charged £140 for going 76p into overdraft and told its fair, I didnt intentionly gone into OD but changes to my account caused it. Thats is the biggest ripoff of my life. if this is how business is done than the world is going MAD.

I think the charges should be refunded, the prudent people should stop moaning and the banks should be FAIR in their dealings - i.e, if it costs £2 to go over your limit, then charge £2 - not £35 plus another £35 for honouring the payment.  I have big problems with NatWest, I went overdrawn by £3, I was promplty charged £35 for going over, and £35 for them honouring the payment.  I was paid the next day, however, as the statement issue dates meant my £3 over limit took it into next months statement, I was charged another £35 for not clearing it soon enough.  So for the sake of £3, I was charged £105.  I have been in dispute with them ever since and have refused to pay the extra £35 charge, the charges are now at a tally of over £800 and I am being threatened with bailiffs and all sorts because of this - all for the sake of £3.  Now how can the "Prudent" people explain this charge as being fair????

I pay £12 for my current account, but that includes travel insurance, phone insurance, overdraft and other benefits alike...

However, on a different note, I am more concerned over the rising fuel prices.  I pay £1.10 for a litre, why is no one moaning about that.  To me, that's a bigger rip off and it affects the prudent and nonprudent people alike!!!

This in response to a post regarding benefits and charges, I lost my job last year and consequently had DD's returned and my bank charged me, I went into my bank to see if they could help me as they had taken my benefits to pay the charges, THEY told ME that they are not allowed to keep benefits against charges, and let me withdraw them, I did this for about 3 months and just left the odd pounds in the bank to cover the charges and they were quite happy about this, and it isn't our main income my husband works full time.  My sister has had the same trouble this year but her bank have refused to give her the benifit, luckily she is ok now, but for a couple of weeks she literally had £0 and they didn't care in the slightest.
I for one wouldn't mind so much about paying fees for banking at least you know what the fees will be and also that your DD's are being paid out, which saves all the phone calls from creditors!

Well said Kellie. It is high time something was done about the fule prices.

Come on if we can take on the Banks why not the fuel companies?

I pay a fee for my bank account £11.50 and I pay a fee for my overdraft facilities.  I cancelled two direct debits and was still charged £313.00 in unfair penalty charges for them.

Is that fair!

Certainly not!

i just thought i would give my 2p worth here.
I have written 3 letters to the bank requesting my 6 years bank statements nd at all times  have been charged 5 pounds for the priveledge and not once, yes not once have i recieved my statements. i have been in constant contact with them for just over 1 year now and all i ever get is they dont have my request or it has been passed to another department. I am sick to death of the way i am being treated and have just given up on the lost cause. I am now living in Australia an will probably never see any of my ripoff charges refunded. well done BOS

BTW i see where kellie is comming from, its around $1.39 per litre petrol here which is roughly half the cost what it is in the UK at the moment.

I called the telephone banking service with the bank of scotland a couple of months ago because my account told me i could withdraw more than i acctually could due to a pending switch purchase and a charge was laid on me of £35 and the monthly charge of £28 for going over my overdraft thats £63 because i took out ten pounds. So i spoke to the bank and ask that it be refunded and we had a conversation on the phone about bank charges and turned around and said that we get a bonus if we dont refund charges i was gob smacked  and counldnt belive what i was hearing thats when i decided to do something about it and reclaim all my charges which is in progress at the moment. i understand that they are providing a sevice but for gods sake £63 for say a pack of cigaretts what a joke! These banks should be ashamed of themselves. And the most annoying thing is if they decide not to pay a direct debit you get charged more, now what service are they providing not to pay something for you.

Kevin, Inverness

I am neither Prudent or Imprudent, as I tend to live on a fine line somewhere between the two - one week being fine another being overdrawn.  
I have 7 accounts with the Halifax which I use to manage my money.  Between these accounts, I am fortunate enough to always have a reasonable amount of money in the bank.  
Even so - I am continually battling with them over charges they try to make to me when the pay a DD 'on my behalf' even though I transfer money in on the same day.  They quote the Ts & Cs and state even though on my statement it shows that I was never overdrawn, that the money has to be in the day before so they can still charge me!  It's an absolute nonsense and must be illegal.  
The other issue is that they try to claim they are having to pay the DD with the banks money - but I think they'll find they are actually paying it with my own money from a different bank account!!
Day light robbery.
I never stand for it and I have had the charges paid back every time.  
My advice - put your foot down, don't let them bully you and don't get off the phone until they have agreed to refund it.

I do get annoyed at all those people that continuously excuse individuals that take money that is not their own(unauthorised overdrafts) of borrow ridiculous amounts of money, spend it, and then complain they cannot afford to repay it. I do think people should take full responsibility for their own actions and pay the consequences for their own poor financial management. If you cann't afford it, don't buy it!

I have a claim against Barclays bank who according to my figures and over a 6 year period covering two seperate accounts have taken out over £2,600 in bank charges. My current overdraft is £1700 once and I hope it is soon I get those charges back my overdraft will be clear, in the meantime and if I do go over my limit they continue to charge me £35 a time, is this right and fair I think not.....

We was on low income because of my husband's poor health & contested charges with our local branch because charges were taken out of our tax Credits/child Allowance & we were left with about £20 to last the whole week.I think we should contest charges when they are robbing us.We have since found out we have about £4,500 to come back,but that won't fix our credit rating for 3Yrs which has been affected.

I claimed back bank charges last year, prior to the recent case going to court. The bank paid me back my money without argument. Whilst I was on Maternity leave (2 years ago), my husband and I were totally skint. My last maternity payment was the middle of August, I returned to work and wasn't going to get paid until the end of September. I rang the bank to extend my overdraft, they said they couldn't do that and I should get a crisis loan. Unfortunately you can only get a crisis loan if you are on a low income or benefits, so we weren't eligible. We made it through the month with the help of my parents, however the very next month (October) I received a letter from the bank telling me my overdraft had been extended!!!! I was so appauled with the bank. Just because I had my wages going in there, they started throwing money at me. I hope we revert back to not having to use banks, and the banks loose custom and all the employees loose their jobs! They give us no sympathy and I can't wait for them to be in the same position as we all have been.

I am getting charged £260 a month for going over my overdraft limit, once they took the first payment it messed me up for the next month and it has spiralled out of control and now from going £126 overdrawn which i admit was an oversight on my behalf, i am now £1430 overdrawn getting charged £260 a month and the bank will not help me one little bit. All i asked them the second time was to freeze the charges so i could catch up and they simply refused, Unfair Bank charges i think so, I just pray and hope we win in court.

      Please God Please let us win.

hi last month i had to cancelled all my D/D before my wages went in because the bank already charges me£300 and my wages was only £400 and i did not have enough money in to pay 4 my D/D i was so depress that i nearly commeted suacide i did not know what to do i had to ring all my credited to cancelled them and say that hopefully i will pay them this month even those i went to the bank and cancelled all my dd they still charges me again 4 this month so far it£ 162 am sick of them and i even been in hospital because of them my B/pressure as been very high with worries i can sleep am a bag of nerve i dont even know how am going to cope with this month wages because ive been off because i was ill the bank is killing me slowly.

I empathise with you Marie and I hope things turn out ok soon for you. I couldn't agree more with most comments. I personally don't mind bank charges if it's £1 but at £38 with my bank? It's just ridiculous and unfair especially when you call your bank to explain a forthcoming situation that will lead to being overdrawn or insufficent funds. I had bank charges slammed on me so much, my bank put a default on my credit file. But having calculated how much charges I can claim back, it's more than sufficient to clear the outstanding overdraft owed which would not have been owed if I hadn't been charged. You're right Linsay, we should probably stop using banks and go go back to old fashioned way of saving money...under your mattress or in your socks! No charges there.

After just putting in a claim to get my bank charges refunded from HSOB, I have had a cheeky letter telling me tough luck, and that I have to wait until the outcome of the legal suit.

Ironically this was just after the test case went in favour of the consumers, however I was informed that if I didn't like than then I could go to the OFT to complain - lovely.

Just reminds me why I absolutely love banks!!

Marie, Have you got another bank account you can get your wages paid into?  Try to open an account that just has a cash card then draw your money out and get pay over the counter books for Elect etc and pay by cash.  Get advice from Citizens advice about how to handle your present bank and try to get the account frozen and agree an amount to pay off every month which is as low as poss.  I know it stinks and banks are scum but youv'e got to be cold and hard and get advice to at least keep even . Don't move anything until youv'e got an agreement with them then stop direct debits and pay by cash wherever possible.  Buy food with cash too.  I really feel for you and I've got the tee shirt on this one. all the best linda

]Businesses can claim all bank charges back ,as the door is still open at the moment.I wouldn,t hang about though.