What will the OFT make of NatWests action?
In the OFT report into credit card charges in April 2006, it said at paragraph 4.21: Disguised penalties The analysis in this statement is in terms of explicit, transparent default fees. Attempts to restructure accounts in order to present events of default spuriously as additional services for which a charge may be made should be viewed as disguised penalties and equally open to challenge where grounds of unfairness exist. (For example, a charge for “agreeing to” or “allowing” a customer to exceed his credit limit is no different from a charge for the customer’s “default” in exceeding his credit limit.) The UTCCRs are concerned with the intention and effects of terms, not just their mechanism. So, let us hope that the OFT has the guts to stick to its words on this issue and tell NatWest what to do with their new terms. Advice for anyone suing NatWest In the short term, do nothing different if you are suing NatWest. However, if it looks at any time that NatWest might actually be planni
