On the eighth day of the test case between the Office of Fair Trading and seven banks and one building society, Brian Doctor QC has been haranguing finance houses for their “strange language” and opposing QCs for their colourful albeit inappropriate analogies.
The bank’s are looking for a ruling on the legality of their overdraft charging structures, after shelling out vast sums of refunds to disgruntled customers.
Customers have picked up on previous OFT guidance that their own rulings in 2006, on credit card charges, applied to overdraft charges too.
Mr Laurence Rabinowitz QC charged the OFT with making “ill-judged comments” which have cost the banks millions in refunds. Rejecting these criticisms Mr Doctor noted that there are no analogies for overdraft charges; they were not charges for services as easily understood by the public and were not central to the contract in question.
The case continues; it is to be supposed that the QC’s fees will of course be fair, representative and proportionate to the matters at hand.
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1 OFT vindicated as Court rules against Banks in charges case | UK Finance News // Apr 25, 2008 at 5:27 am
[...] noted on UK Finance News, the case has revolved around whether the OFT has the right to rule on overdraft charges - not [...]