Banks could be flooded with a further eight million bank charges claims, as the decision regarding the test case is fast approaching, consumer group Which? has said.
With the Supreme Court’s judgement expected on Wednesday, Which? has claimed that of the 12million people that have been hit with bank charges for unauthorised overdrafts since July 2001, 63 per cent have not yet asked for their money back.
If the Supreme Court rules that bank charges should be governed using fairness rules, the banks may be forced to pay back billions.
Which? has found that 42 per cent of the claims waiting to be resolved are for amounts of £500 or more, as four out of 10 people who have made a claim said they would use the money pay off bills and debts.
Commenting, Which? personal finance campaigner, Phil Jones, believes that if the Supreme Court rules against the banks, it could leave them “staring down the barrel at millions of fresh claims”.
“This is in addition to the huge backlog that’s already built up since the waiver was put in place,” he said.
However, Mr Jones added: “With so much money at stake, the banks may well try to drag the process out even longer, so we’d warn people not to make any plans for their refunded cash just.”
