Bank Fees Class Action - Financial Redress IMF

Financial Redress, subsidiary to IMF, has launched a class action against the major banks (which is set to include the big four within australia)  to recover what they claim are illegal fees. 'Exception Fees', such as dishonoured cheque fees, or late payment fees, are classed as penalties but need to be proportional to the banks' expenses. Many banks have charged $25, or more, in the past for circumstances that have cost them around $2.

If you have been charged at least one of these penalty fees in the last 6 years you may be eligible to join the class action. If you are interested in learning more, or finding out if your bank/previous bank is being targetted please read on.

Bank fee action gathers steam: IMF Australia
Richard Gluyas
The Australian
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/bank-fee-action-gathers-steam-imf-australia/story-e6frg8zx-1225865746342

A planned brace of class actions to recover some of the $5 billion in penalty fees charged by the nation's banks over the past six years was yesterday attracting aggrieved bank customers at the rate of "hundreds per hour".

Litigation funder IMF Australia said it would back legal action against up to a dozen banks, including the big four, if a minimum of about 10,000 people signed up to each action.

With an estimated average personal claim of $2000, rising to $5000 for a business, early estimates suggest a possible customer windfall of $400 million before IMF takes its fee.

An electronic registration system set up by IMF's Perth subsidiary Financial Redress was yesterday attracting registrations at the rate of 500-600 an hour.

About 100 people an hour were proceeding to final sign-up, according to IMF managing director Hugh McLernon.

Financial Redress boss James Middleweek, who has been fighting the banks for more than a year on exception fees, said he had joined with IMF to even up the battlefield.

"Long-suffering bank customers have everything to gain and nothing to lose by joining these actions," he said.

The major banks, as well as the Australian Bankers Association industry body, declined to comment on the substance of the planned litigation, saying no court documents had been filed.

"If IMF proceeds, then ultimately it is for the courts to decide the merits of this claim," acting ABA chief executive Tony Burke said.

National Australia Bank, which has abolished most of the contentious fees, took the opportunity to have a poke at its rivals.

"We would urge the other banks to follow NAB's lead and abolish these fees," a spokesman said.

The Reserve Bank reported that, in the 2008 financial year, the nation's banks charged customers almost $1.2bn in exception fees, including honour and dishonour fees on bank accounts and over-the-limit and late-payment fees on credit card accounts.

The levies have been extremely unpopular, with consumer groups and other opponents saying they are out of all proportion to the costs incurred by the banks.

IMF and its class-action lawyer Maurice Blackburn are now taking the next step, arguing the fees are illegal. In doing so they are following the lead of Britain's Office of Fair Trading, which failed to convince the Supreme Court in that country that it had the jurisdiction to hear the case.