Bank Charges: What happens next

If you want to skip directly to another section of our guide to reclaiming unfair bank charges, you can click on one of the links below:

• An introduction to reclaiming bank charges
• The legal position on bank charges
• A step-by-step guide to reclaiming bank charges

As we have seen, the outcome of your claims for a refund of unfair charges levied by your bank on your unauthorised overdrafts will no longer be decided by a County Court but by the High Court test case between the OFT and the banking industry.

But if you have filed a claim AND the ruling is in your favour, you should win compensation on a scale decided by the courts rather than what your bank was willing to offer.

If your claim was already before a County Court

When the announcement on the test case was made, the district judges in each individual court were effectively given the choice as to whether to "stay" the actions they were due to hear or go ahead with them.

In theory, they can continue to hear them, unless a bank - or the complainant - asks for a stay. At that point, they make a decision on that application.

You could, if you wish, ask for the case to be heard anyway, possibly by pleading personal financial hardship if a ruling on your own claim for charges is not reached immediately.

But this is likely to be a route fraught with legal difficulties and you should obtain advice from a legal expert, or others who have been in similar situations as you.

Where to go for help

If you need help and advice on what to do, there are two places you can go to.

• Our own forums: there are many "threads" on bank charges and you can search for one there. Or open your own thread and ask questions from other users. The link is here.

• The Bank Charges Hell website, has a forum carries with further useful information.

Finally, although you are perfectly entitled to claim unlawful charges levied against you as many times as you wish, there may be issues there about how you manage your money more effectively. Sometimes, though it may be painful to admit the fact, it is not only the bank that is at fault.

One additional thing to consider is whether you are with the right bank. Some banks operate different overdraft limits and charges in respect of their accountholders.

Research by moneysupermarket.com shows that out of the seven major banks and building societies, the cost of going £60 over an authorised overdraft limit with three £20 guaranteed cheques in a month can vary by £108.

An HSBC customer would face a charge of £25, while the cost to those banking with NatWest would be £133. Read more of our research into bank charges here.

You may therefore want to make use of our current account comparison tool to find out if there is another account more suited to your needs.