The High Court bank charges test case has left at least 65,000 people in limbo, according to official figures obtained by a pressure group.
Around 65,000 bank charge claims remain frozen in the UK court system, with their outcomes dependent on the result of an ongoing High Court case.
The claims were suspended in 2007 by the Financial Services Authority, after a consumer revolt led to courts being swamped by cases of customers looking to get back money lost through the charges. Banks commonly levied £30 on customers who exceeded overdraft limits - a cost seen by many people as unfair.
London's High Court held a test case last year, pitting arguments from banks on one side and consumers on the other over whether or not the charges are fair. Mr Justice Andrew Smith has ruled that the Office of Fair Trading can decide on the fairness of the fees - a decision which is currently being appealed against by the banks, leaving claimants' cases still in limbo.
The claims number was uncovered by a freedom of information request from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) by pressure group Legal Beagles.
Julian Siddle, a spokesperson for the group, told the BBC: "People are still incurring charges even though banks have obtained a waiver, so they don't have to deal with new complaints." Nick Spooner, also of Legal Beagles, added: "The 65,000 figure only applies to the cases which the MoJ was absolutely sure related to claims against banks for the return of overdraft charges.
"There are others that the MoJ couldn't pick up when searching its data base, because of the different ways in which people had written their claims. Meanwhile thousands more claims are piling up with the banks themselves."
