Fair Play on Fees Hits 11,000 Registrations

Fair Play on Fees Hits 11,000 Registrations

Fair Play on Fees has had an overwhelming response to its class action campaign against banks with more than 11,000 Kiwis’ registering since the campaign launched yesterday.

Within the first seven hours of the Fair Play website launching, more than 7000 people had registered at a rate of 1,000 per hour. New Zealanders are signing up more rapidly than the rate Australians signed up to a similar class action campaign launched in Australia (per capita basis). In the first 24 hours of that campaign 22,000 Australians had registered.

Fair Play on Fees lawyer Andrew Hooker says he did not anticipate such a phenomenal response from the public. “We now expect the website to register more than 20,000 in the first 48 hours of the campaign. We didn’t expect these numbers on the back of the Australian experience. We are very confident that on the back of these numbers we will be able to file court documents within weeks.”

Kim Barron, a Kiwi who has been overcharged several times in default fees, says the class action couldn’t come soon enough. “I’ve been hit several times with these fees. A little warning from them would be nice. It is a bit stiff when they take money off you when it’s an honest mistake.”

The campaign’s Facebook site has been inundated with comments endorsing the campaign. “We have asked Kiwi’s if they want to take the banks on. They have come back with an overwhelming yes.”

Fair Play on Fees yesterday launched a call for New Zealanders to sign up and participate in class actions to claim back excessive bank default fees. Default fees occur when banks charge an average $15 fee for going into overdraft, bouncing a cheque or paying a credit card late.

The legal action is being led by New Zealand lawyer Andrew Hooker, Australian class action experts Slater & Gordon and litigation funder Litigation Lending Services (NZ).

New Zealanders can join the action against unfair bank fees by registering at www.fairplayonfees.co.nz.
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