In recent years there has been a huge increase in the number of complaints being leveled at high street banks and financial institutions in relation to the fees they charge and the service they deliver. Indeed banking complaints are now the target of consumer watchdog TV programs and media campaigns. In May 2007 the Financial Ombudsman Service reported that they had experienced a surge of banking complaints and were investigating 1,000 new cases every week!

This 47% rise was due mainly to what customers deemed as excessive charges. Consider that most people never even think to challenge bank charges. Yet according to the BBC in the first six months of 2007, banks were forced to refund £400 million in unfair charges. You can imagine just how lucrative charges are for the banking industry. Best estimates state that banks earn between £2 billion and £4.5 billion per annum from charges. In the wake of this, the banks are now being challenged both in and out of court.

If you feel that the charges you have paid are unfair or excessive, or if you feel that you have been treated unfairly (especially if you have been a good customer up until that point) then your first port of call is the complaints department of your own bank. As these charges and fees are made automatically, often all you need to do is ask the bank to reverse the decision and put the money back into your account. Perhaps you went slightly overdrawn one month but in all your years of banking this has never happened. If you point out this fact to most banks they will re-credit your account. Whether you are angry about service, fees or what you consider inappropriate charges, then you do have a number of avenues to explore to seek resolution.

If you do not receive satisfaction you can approach any one of the following:

Financial Ombudsman Service
This is the independent service for settling disputes between businesses engaged in providing financial services, and their customers. The service was set up by government for this task and is a free service to consumers.

The Ombudsman deals with all sorts of financial disputes including banking complaints, insurance, mortgages and investments and settles about 100,000 cases every year.

Contact details:
Telephone: 0845 080 1800 (office hours)
www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk