31 January 2008
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) told a High Court hearing that banks use confusing language on their contracts.
Brian Doctor QC, representing the OFT, made the comments at the hearing it brought against seven UK banks due to what is claimed to be the excessive fees they charge to consumers.
In their defence, the financial institutions have claimed that customers signed up to face the charges - which are levied for offences such as exceeding overdraft limits - in their initial contracts.
However, Mr Doctor said that these documents use a "strange language" which did not reflect "objective reality".
What's more, the barrister said that the charges were themselves "highly unusual, both in their contractual form and the way they operate", the BBC reports.
Prior to the High Court case being called last summer, hundreds of thousands of consumers lodged claims for their penalty fees to be repaid.
As a result, HSBC has already given back approximately £116 million to customers - with Barclays, HBOS and RBS close behind on around £80 million each.
Should the OFT be successful in the test case, these figures are set to rise still further.
© 2008 Adfero Ltd
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