I've just been contacted by the above company, with regard to regaining bank charges. After much discussion, I managed to eke out of them that they charge £49.99 for contacting your bank on your behalf. As you probably know, you can do this for yourself, for free, at Martin Lewis' brilliant site Money Saving Expert. But currently, many cases are tied up in the county court, awaiting the result of a test case to decide their future. As a result, if you give UBI UK Ltd your cash, you might be waiting a long time for the promise of a full refund.
Quoted below is the latest news on reclaiming bank charges:
Q. What has happened in the test case so far?
A. Updated Tue 18 Mar 08. The test case ended on the 8 Feb 08 after nearly four weeks of legal discussion between the banks and the OFT. Soon after, we were told the judge was expected to take a few months to make his decision on whether the charges could be unlawful, as first he needs to check, read, consider and double check everything he has learnt.
It was hoped that the judge would also be able to give some clarity on cases that are currently stayed in the county court but he has not been able to do this because the discussion so far has been focused around banks current terms and conditions, rather than any previous contracts. This issue is yet to be decided and may need an additional hearing in the next few months. In the meantime banks may request cases continue to be stayed, check with your court if you're not sure what's happening to yours.
The latest from the Office of Fair Trading is that it thinks the judgement will be made, at the latest, by the end of July. Although once that's in, both sides will need to review the content, and potentially request an additional hearing or appeal, so we could be waiting some time yet!
More here when we know it...
To read the article in full, go here.
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