How do you define excessive fees?
As the ongoing bank charges debacle continues we have today seen the emergence of a possible similar type of situation in the letting agency market. A judgement today, which ruled that excessive fees charged by many letting agencies across the UK can be reclaimed over a 14 year period, has caused many consumers in the UK to consider how you define excessive fees.
While many believe that any contract which they sign, where the fees are clearly stipulated, are legally binding it appears that so-called "excessive fees" can only cover additional costs associated with an agreement and cannot be for "profit". This now pose the question as to which other areas of the UK financial market may now be brought into the "excessive fees" saga and ultimately how much compensation may be claimed back in due course.
As we have seen with UK banks, which are fighting the bank charges case vehemently, the various financial institutions central to the situation will not give up this compensation easily. While the letting agency ruling could open the gates to compensation approaching £26 million the situation for the UK banking sector could reach the billions. Whether credit card providers, loan providers, store cards or other financial instruments can be brought into the argument remains to be seen but there are some intriguing opportunities for the future.
Share this..
Related stories
A&L fined £7m by FSA
Alliance & Leicester (A&L) has been fined £7 million by the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the regulator announced today. Shoddy sales practices for payment protection insurance (PPI) between January 2005 to December 2007 mean that many customers could have been mis-sold the cover, the FSA said.A&L was found to not have made it clear to customers that taking out the cover was voluntary.The p...
Read MoreCut more energy bills, regulator says
Britain's gas and electricity providers should continue to cut unnecessary costs from customer bills, Ofgem said today.The regulator made the comments in the initial findings of its billing practices investigation - which revealed that some householders were paying too much for their energy through no fault of their own.For example, some who get their fuel through prepayment meters are paying more...
Read MoreNew customer broadband deals 'proving popular'
Introductory deals are proving appealing to many broadband customers looking to cut their bills, BroadbandChoices.co.uk said.According to the price comparison site, around half of all users have taken out a special offer for new customers.One third also said that they had switched providers to another introductory deal - when their previous one had run out.A further 20 per cent claimed to have tak...
Read MoreAre we seeing the emergence of a new guard in the UK banking sector?
As many of the old guard continue to be forced out of office by various banking shareholder groups a number of analysts believe that we are on the verge of a new dawn for the UK banking sector. However, with such figures as Sir Victor Blank and Sir Fred Goodwin to name but two now forcefully ejected from their office there is a concern that the vast array of experience and knowledge gathered by th...
Read MoreAre Microsoft and Yahoo back in talks?
After seemingly falling out forever it would appear that Microsoft and Yahoo are back in merger talks with a number of financial publications picking up on the rumour. This is a long-running saga which has been going on for many many months and one which many suggested was dead. However, it would appear that a mixture of the need for the parties to combat Google as well as a possible slowdown on t...
Read More