New research has claimed that more than half of banking customers are being made to pay unfair bank charges for relatively minor misdemeanours, such as creeping over their overdraft limit.

The study for FairInvestment.co.uk revealed that almost a quarter of current account customers have an agreed overdraft facility but still slip over it from time to time, incurring a charge. A further 9% do not have an agreed overdraft but still edge into the red occasionally.

As many as 11% of people say they exceed their overdraft as often as every month just to make ends meet. and 16% said they faced constant charges which they could not afford to pay.

Meanwhile, 15% of customers have an agreed overdraft which they stick to and never exceed, while 25% of respondents said that they have no need for an overdraft and are therefore not affected by bank charges.

"With the cost of living on the rise, consumers are finding it harder and harder to make ends meet," said David Doulton, director at FairInvestment.co.uk. "Banks have a responsibility to their customers to provide fair bank charges. Currently, people are being charged up to as much as £40 for exceeding their overdraft.

"The fact that more than half of Britons are affected by bank charges should urge the banks to act in their customers' best interests, but they are more concerned about the £3.5 billion a year they are raking in from them."

Earlier this year, the High Court confirmed that the charges were eligible to be assessed under rules governing consumer contract regulations, which would mean that the Office of Fair Trading could determine whether or not the charges are fair.

However, the banks have appealed the ruling, insisting that the charges they implement are both fair and proportionate. The case could go to the Court of Appeal in July, but campaigners are concerned that it could take longer if it has to go to the House of Lords and European court.

No customers have been able to reclaim their charges since last summer, when the FSA implemented a freeze on reclaiming until the issue is clarified by law.

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