The Office of Fair Trading (Respondent) v Abbey National plc and others (Appellants)

Judgment given

Case summary
Judgment details
Appeal
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Case summary

Case ID

UKSC/2009/0070

Parties

Appellant(s)

Abbey National plc

Barclays Bank Plc

Clydesdale Bank Plc

HBOS Plc

HSBC Bank Plc

Lloyds TSB Bank Plc

Nationwide Building Society

The Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc

Respondent(s)

The Office of Fair Trading

Issue

Whether the Respondent is entitled to assess the fairness of certain charges made by the Appellants under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contract Regulations 1999.

Facts

The Office of Fair Trading ('OFT') wished to investigate the fairness, under the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 ('the Regulations'), of the terms in the Appellant banks’ contracts with customers imposing charges on unauthorised overdrafts. The Regulations implemented European Council Directive 93/13/EEC. The OFT applied for a declaration that it was entitled to make such an investigation, notwithstanding regulation 6(2)(b) of the Regulations, which stated that the assessment of fairness of a term in a contract ‘shall not relate… to the adequacy of the price or remuneration, as against the goods or services supplied in exchange’. Both the High Court and the Court of Appeal decided that regulation 6(2)(b) did not stop the OFT from making such an investigation. The banks appealed.