Web Week: Top stories from This is Money
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/unfairbankcharges
A first-stage victory in the High Court for victims of excessive bank charges has enflamed debate on This is Money.
On one side are customers angry at being charged up to £38 a time for going overdrawn when the real cost to banks is estimated at £4. A legal stand-off allowed thousands to reclaim 'excessive charges' in county courts but future claims are on hold.
On the other side are customers in the black who believe it is right to penalise those unable to manage their finances: the fees were clear in the smallprint and, hey, it has enabled banks to subsidise basic services elsewhere and avoid monthly fees for all.
But that ignores the injustice of many individual cases. Ben Manicom, a thrifty 20-year-old from Liskeard, Cornwall, has just been charged £57 in a week for going £2.38 overdrawn – a result of Lloyds TSB’s new charging structure. The fees are lower, starting at £6, but are imposed every day an account is in the red: lower charges but now applied repeatedly. (Read the full story on Ben)
If such changes are deemed unfair, it could spell the end of the free banking system. Like a hole in the dyke, if one exit is closed another will be forced open by a banking industry determined to maintain profits.
A more transparent system is fairer and inevitable, but hundreds of readers in our debate certainly disagree: 30 hours since the decision and our bank charges story is up to 72 comments.
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