Bank campaigners vow to carry on
Updated on 30 July 2007
Campaigners against penalty overdraft charges remained undeterred even though a barrister lost his legal bid to gain compensation from a high street bank.
Tom Brennan was told he could not continue with his battle for damages from NatWest in relation to money taken from his account in unauthorised overdraft charges.
His application to appeal the decision was also denied by City of London County Court.
Mr Brennan, a recently qualified barrister, had claimed at an earlier hearing that the bank acted unlawfully in taking around £2,500 in fees.
Alongside full reimbursement of the charges, Mr Brennan was seeking aggravated damages in recognition of the stress he encountered and the difficulty he had paying rent and purchasing necessary items.
In addition, he was asking for exemplary damages, which are awarded against the defendant when a wrong is deemed to be deliberate, malicious or negligent.
NatWest, which had called for the claim for aggravated and exemplary damages to be struck out and maintained that its fees were lawful, had offered Mr Brennan around £3,000, which he refused.
He claimed the money he was offered did not diminish the damage caused to his credit rating, which could have adverse effects on future applications for credit cards and mortgages.
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) announced on Thursday that it was launching a test case against the major banks in the High Court to establish whether their unauthorised overdraft charges were unfair.
Consumer groups campaigning for people to be refunded penalty overdraft charges remained upbeat despite the judgment.
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