DEFAULT BANKING CHARGES

Early day motion 2227, tabled 22 May 2006 by Julia Goldsworthy (Liberal Democrat). Signed by 88 members.

That this House notes with concern the exorbitant costs to customers of default charges applied to current and credit card accounts, which cause distress and alarm to consumers, and in particular to the financially vulnerable; welcomes the statement by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) that a default charge should only be used to recover certain limited administrative costs; recognises the work by Which? to challenge excessive bank charges; commends the thousands of consumers who have challenged these default charges with their providers, many using the free information made available from Which?; and calls on current account and credit card providers to respond positively to OFT's statement.

Signatures by party: Labour 44, Liberal Democrat 30, Conservative 5, DUP 4, Plaid Cymru 2, Social Democratic and Labour Party 2, UUP 1.