In a move that has rekindled strong emotions among consumers over bank overdraft charges the Financial Ombudsman Service has taken the debate one step closer on the consumer side. The FOS have criticised the high street banks for failing to help stricken customers deal with accumulating overdraft fees. They have gone as far as to order the banks to refund charges if customers face ‘financial difficulty’.

The banks has been criticised namely for sending impersonal letters and other correspondence to customers that have overdraft charges in a standardised way which does not address the customers individual circumstances. According to the FOS, this has been a growing concern due to the fact that as many as 300 consumers were writing to the service each week claiming that they don’t have enough money to survive on and yet the banks were taking a hard position with overdraft fees.

However, banks are taking a rather strict line on this and a few have indicated that they rather an individual take their claim to the FOS if they are not happy with the banks policy.

Do you feel you are in this position? If you feel you are, in the first instance you should try to resolve the dispute with your bank. Banks are given clear guidelines and timescales in which they should adhere to. If you feel that you are not getting anywhere with your complaint then the next and final option should be you lodge a complaint with the FOS. It is worth considering that it is in your banks interest to resolve a complaint before it gets to the FOS as they get charged regardless of the outcome.