Crunch time for bank charges case

The future of overdraft fees paid by millions of customers could be decided after an appeal in the House of Lords this week, starting on Tuesday.

Five Law Lords will hear an appeal by the UK's main banks against an earlier decision this year by the Appeal Court.

It upheld a ruling from last year that the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) had the power to decide if bank charges were fair or not.

About one million people are waiting to see if they can reclaim their charges. "We certainly hope the House of Lords will uphold a very strongly worded judgement of the Court of Appeal," said Chris Warner, a lawyer with the consumers' association Which?

Long drawn out
At stake is £2.5bn of income each year for the banks, and overdraft charges as high as £40 each time someone goes overdrawn without permission, or has a cheque or direct payment bounced. Read More...

'Steady rise' in mortgage lending

Mortgage approvals by the UK's major banks have continued the steady rise of the last six months, figures show.

The number of approvals for house purchases rose to 31,162 in May, up 15.8% compared with the same month a year ago.

But the British Bankers' Association (BBA) data also shows that borrowing on credit cards has dropped owing to householders' economic uncertainty. Various lenders have raised the cost of fixed-rate mortgages in recent days.

Alert on misleading debt adverts

Borrowers have been warned to ignore misleading adverts which suggest people can get rid of their debts or loans simply by selling them.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) says there has been a surge in these adverts from debt and claims management companies. But it says debts cannot legally be sold without a lender's permission.

"You cannot simply sell on your debt and its liabilities, and businesses that make misleading claims to the contrary are just trying to take advantage of consumers' distress," said Ray Watson, the OFT's director of credit.