In the past banks have made billions of pounds each year from penalty charges. But the legality of these charges - which cost their customers an average of £30 a time -  has being called into question and thousands of customers want their money back.

In 2006, the Office of Fair Trading ruled these penalty fees of up to £35 were unfair. The Office of Fair Trading  imposed a £12 limit on late payment and other credit card charges after branding the penalties imposed by companies such as Barclaycard, the leading credit card company, as excessive and unfair.

The announcement meant that companies such as Alliance and Leicester, which charged customers £25 for a late payment and £25 for exceeding a credit limit, had to reduce their fees or face the embarrassment of legal action by the OFT.

The regulator said credit card fees had been set "at a significantly higher level than is legally fair" and estimated that consumers paid £300 million more than was reasonable in 2005.

The OFT said it expected  all credit card issuers to recalculate their charges and that fees should only be used to recover administrative costs. The same principle also applies to default charges on overdrafts, store cards and mortgage products.

Consumer law states that any charges credit card providers levy on their customers must be proportional to the actual costs they incur. And the simple question is, ‘does it really cost £35 to send an automated letter when someone’s gone 1p over their limit?’  They’re not supposed to fine you; yet over the years that’s exactly what they’ve done whenever people have missed credit card repayment dates or bust through their credit limit. And it’s for this reason that you should be able to get back the last six years’ worth of cash.

Yet it certainly has made it a lot easier to reclaim back the difference between what you were charged and the £12 figure. So for each £35 charge, you should get at least £23 of it back; though many people actually get the whole £35.

You need to find all the fines you’ve been charged by each credit card. You can go back six years in England and Wales or five years in Scotland; these time periods are limited by law. This includes late payment and ‘over the limit’ fees but not standard account fees or interest.

Are you struggling to pay credit cards, loans, store cards or catalogues?
Would you like someone to help sort out your payments and talk to creditors for you?

Would you like to be able to pay one affordable amount to all your creditors each month?  Would you like to claim back six years worth of charges which would reduce your overall debt?

If this sounds like you, a debt management plan may be just the thing.  Get more information by contacting one of our Senior Advisors now.