When you open a bank account you accept the bank's terms and conditions - if you have read these terms you should know what penalties are involved if you break them. It is very annoying that people who have kept to the terms and conditions are now going to be penalised by charges for having current accounts because of irresponsible people.

margaret keirnen, argyll,

Calling people 'stupid' for incurring overdraft charges is unfair: you may unaware of the charges, you may make a mistake/miscalculation, or may simply be poor. I'm sure those who have enough money in their accounts not to reach their limit never get charged. Bank charges affect the customers in the greatest financial difficulty, and then makes their situation even more difficult and circular.

Moreover, it misses the point, which is that the charges are both unreasonable (in their disproportionate size) and unnecessary: how much does it really cost a bank if a customer exceeds their overdraft limit.

I am not one for encouraging people to rely on 'others to bail them out', but this is not what the test case is intended to achieve. Rather it is to restore peoples' right to be treated fairly and legally by their banks.

Helen, Cambridge,

Quite honestly I am astounded by the level of claims against the Banks by people who are unable or refuse to conduct their accounts in line with the arrangements they have wiith the Bank.
Surely by borrowing without an arrangement is the same in my view as stealing and the relative charges made by the banks a are I feel fully justified. If people cannot conduct their financiak affairs correctly they should be penalised.
In my view it is yet again an instance of people always blaming someone else for their own shortcomings and because of the media publicity the banks are seen as a soft target. Presunably the media would be happy if the bank made losses and the finacial system crumbled.

Broad, Sheffield, UK

My sister in law had her account frozen by her bank - with a credit of £300 because of her arrears on her mortgage account....they then bounced a direct debit because the account was frozen and charged her a penalty!! She has spoken with the omudsman and the bank has since apologised and credited the fee, but I feel the action of "creating" a penalty charge highlights how the banks operate, possibly driven by performance pay and internal targets...

Chris, Lichfield, UK

Ha Ha,

I will be very pleased when they (thanks to Clementi) take over Conveyancing as they see it very much as a market like tinned beans. There is just going to be so much work for competent litigators sorting all the problems out.... Of course, the consumers don't really figure in these best laid plans....... Bring it on! Would you like your £200k house conveyed at minimum wage (forget all those 'slight complications' like a proper contract and terms and conditions governing the sale and completion or even whether the seller has any title to sell to you)..

Pete Balchin, Solicitor , Bristol, UK

So people who go overdrawn without permission of the bank and then get penalty charges for using the banks money are complaining that they shouldnt get these penalty charges. What right do these people think they have to just use someone elses money and not having to pay for doing so. All loans are attached to interest payments or penalty payments. Why do some people think that they can just dip into the banks funds without permission. This behaviour just sums up this country at present whereby people want everything for nothing and they want it now. If people cant afford things then they should either go without them, or save up for them, or take out loans or credit which both come with interest payments. If people cant afford the payments then they should seek permission from the finance institutions whom they have borrowed from and make arrange to pay what they can afford. They shouldnt just take an unauthorised overdraft. There seems to be no responsibility or principles any more

Lynda Plum, London, england

The banks must be guilty of misleading their customers if they readily repay amounts if challenged. It is about time the government set standards/guidelines for banks to follow and stop ripping off the customer. The courts/government should make banks automatically repay every current account holder who has gone above the recognised overdraft limit monies taken off which are excessive and profiteering by the banks in question. Why should we have to go to court to gain action when we have been swindled!!

Mike, Burley-in-Wharfedale, West Yorkshire

Yes Mike Gilbert from Bournemouth, but a number of points: The law is the law. If the banks weren't so frightened of the law, they wouldn't have paid billions out before now? Banking is not a free service so don't delude yourself that it is. It is generally those in the lower end of the income spectrum, or are in financial diffuculties that subsidise your free banking? Your comment regarding black listing just shows your lack of understanding of the issue A penalty is a penalty, and should not be used by ANYBODY to make a profit. It does not cost £39 to send a letter telling you that you are over your overdraft limit. Im my view, penalty charges should be scrapped, and everybody pays a fee for their account. End of...........

Matt Smith, Rotherham, UK

What nonsense. If you're so financially disorganised that you can run up £742 in unauthorised overdraft charges you shouldn't have a bank account at all. What's wrong with calling the bank and asking for an overdraft before you run one up? Whilst I agree that the banks are partly to blame for this by encouraging people to live on credit and lending to anyone, however unsuitable, people need to take responsibility for their own finances. If those ads saying '0% on balance transfers' appeal to you, more credit is the last thing you need.

Liz, London,

I don’t care much for fees charged on those who exceed their overdraft (forgive my selfishness) but my beef lies with the interest rate that is charged on legal overdrafts. For example, having just had the student marker removed from my current account, on an overdraft of £2,700, I found myself paying interest of no less than £35 each month (I could only afford to pay £50 each month into the account; by the time the bank took its “cut”, I was effectively only paying in some £15 each month). Why should banks be allowed to take so much when they only usually put in paltry sums in the way of interest earned on current accounts?

Annie, Cambridge, UK

'Illegal' overdraft fees. If this is so; why aren't these institutions facing the courts of law now? As customers, if we steal peoples money we are swiftly prosecuted. It's not the 'banks' we want brought to justice, it's the people who are authorising these crimes. Or are they too high up the food chain?

Ben Avraham, Southport, UK

If I and my wife with very ordinary jobs can bring up two children, pay off the mortgage without help from any other source or ever resorting to an overdraft either approved or otherwise how can I have the slightest sympathy with any idiot stupid enough to spend themselves into trouble and expect others to bail them out. As part of the 62% of bank customers not involved, I suppose now I shall be penalised for their stupidity by higher charges. The banks should just black list them and let the county courts sort them out and let them explain the judgements when they want credit.

mike gilbert, bournemouth, uk