Complaints over bank charges hit new levels

The number of complaints to financial watchdogs about bank charges rose by 47 per cent last year to more than 20,000, figures released today show.

In the face of growing customer dissatisfaction about bank charges, the Financial Ombudsman Service says it is now receiving 1,000 complaints every week about the extra money people are having to fork out.

Walter Merricks, the chief ombudsman, said: "A year ago we were receiving just 10 cases a week about banking charges.

"By the end of March 2007 this had risen to 500 a week, and we are now handling 1,000 of these cases weekly."

The Daily Mail has led the way with its campaign to highlight the unfair charges banks are now charging on customers, from which they rake in more than £1.3 billion a year.

These include charges for using current acounts, penalties for being overdrawn and not paying credit card bills, as well as charges connected to mortgages such as exit fees.

The number of people unhappy about controversial Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) also soared, the number of complaints up 39 per cent.

Overall, however, the ombudsman service said it received fewer complaints in the last year - 94,392, down from 112,923 in the previous year.