The Wrongness Of The Bank Charge Ruling
In the Court of Appeal, (28/10/08) it was decided that Mr Justice Andrew Smith, who is a High Court judge, did some serious wrongs, when he last ruled on the case against bank charges.
There are a multitude of banks that are appealing against the ostensibly blurred rulings of Mr Justice Andrew Smith.
The decision he made was that the Office of Fair Trading, (OFT) was to have the power to decide whether overdraft charges were right or wrong.
His decision has subsequently been described as rabid, unjust, and schizophrenic.
As it stands, the banks and the OFT are going through a plethora of test cases, in order to determine who is right and who is wrong.
It has been stated by a representative of one of the banks that is involved, (Mr Rabidowitz) that there is no grounds for the OFT to challenge the charges that banks impose, due to the fact that 1999 Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations, were not designed to be some sort of price ceiling generator.
Rabidowitz is also of the reckoning that the rubrics of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations, state quite the opposite, that the assessment of fairness is not directly relevant to the priced charged.
He went on to state that the charges that a bank issues are significant in the provision of the bank account in the first place, and not directly relatable to a single charge, which pretty much suggests that the bank pays for you to bank, as long as you do not foul up.
One Mr Justice Waller made quite a valid point, when he highlighted the inherent unfairness of customers in credit having to pay for those in debt. He made reference to the robbing Peter to pay Paul, idiom.
Rabidowitz was quick to dismiss this view, as one of an incorrect nature, preferring to be of the opinion that the packages that people get with current accounts, are fair Rabidowitz slammed Mr Justice Smith, branding him a ‘typical consumer impersonator.’ This was in reference to the partisan manner in which he perceived the bank charge saga.
The appeal is due to go on for another six days. Some of it this week, and some next week.