The Independent - Judge attacks banks for 'delaying tactics' to beat lawsuits over fees

A senior commercial judge has criticised British banks, accusing them of using delaying tactics to prevent customers from successfully suing them over illegal charges. Judge David Mackie QC made the comments as he dealt with more than 30 cases at London's Mercantile Court, which has been flooded with cases brought by bank customers.

In several cases, the banks have asked customers to resupply them with information they had been given months earlier. Judge Mackie said that there was no reason why the banks could not have settled several of the cases within weeks of receiving the complaints.

The judge singled out Lloyds TSB, which settled one complaint the night before it was due to be heard in court. He said there was no good reason that it could not have settled the case sooner, and awarded the claimant an additional £100 for the fact that he had been forced to take the day off work for the case.

Although Judge Mackie upheld most cases, consumers suing their banks have had mixed results. Last month, a county court judge in Birmingham ruled in favour of Lloyds TSB, dismissing a claim for £2,545 from a customer, Karen Berwick. He concluded that the bank's charges were legitimate for servicing an overdrawn account.

Many consumers have received payouts without a fight, while others have been successful in the courts. The banks are now considering taking a test case to get the law clarified. None of the cases has so far set any legal precedent.

Brian Capon of the British Bankers Association said the banks consider the charges to be perfectly legal, and said that consumers who had a problem should take it up with their bank in person.

Helen Ainsworth of Which?, the consumers' association, warned that bank customers were better off staying out of the court system altogether - even if their bank rejected their claims after an initial complaint. "The Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) is free, and all cases that have been through the FOS so far have been settled," she said. "Also, once you've made a complaint to the Ombudsman, see it through - don't then start applying to the courts. If you're already in the courts system, then make sure you're as prepared as you possibly can be - get together as much evidence as you can."

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