3 August 2009

Leader of the Conservative Party
Rt Hon David Cameron MP

House of Commons
London SW1A 0AA


Dear Mr Cameron

Re: Unfair bank charges levied against UK consumers

Will the Conservative Party issue a strong and unambiguous defence of consumer rights, in the shape of a statement  in the House that excessive bank charges are unfair?

Only today, Barclays and HSBC have announced profits of £3bn and £5bn respectively, whilst many members of the general public face financial limbo – pay cuts, redundancy, problems keeping up mortgage payments, and the gravest financial uncertainty in most people’s living memory. Whilst the markets rally at profits that are seen as obscene by many, the customers of the banks await the result of a long drawn-out legal case to establish whether they can claim back bank charges – reportedly up to £39.00 for being just a penny over their overdraft limit.

Given the astronomical amounts of money afforded to the banks in the shape of taxpayers’ loans and other hand-outs, surely it is time for Joe Public to get fair redress? Not allowing the banks to successfully appeal against what we believe are grossly unfair bank charges, would effectively put an average of around £500 per household back into people’s pockets and the local economy, representing a much needed stimulus for local shops and other businesses on their knees because of the recession.

It is refreshing to hear that you plan to re-structure the UK financial regulatory regime. Not before time. In addition, making a clear statement now that these bank charges are unfair would send a strong message to the incumbent Government, that the Tories will not be prepared to see the banks ride roughshod over the public in the future. More importantly, it would signal to the general public that there is a party prepared to fight for consumer rights and speak out against the unspeakable financial injustices that have been allowed to prevail for far too long.  

I would be very pleased to meet you or your advisors in Manchester or London to discuss this in more detail and give you any further background you may need. 

Sally Bowyer
Managing Director – BrunelFranklin.com *

* BrunelFranklin.com is one of the UK’s leading financial claims companies, regulated by the Ministry of Justice and the FSA for certain activities. It is a member of the Claims Standards Council and has so far won over £110,000,000 worth of compensation for members of the public against mis-sold endowments, investment bonds, mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI), and bank charges.