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Fair Play on Fees to Lodge Documents Against BNZ And Westpac

Fair Play on Fees to Lodge Court Documents Against BNZ And Westpac for Unfair Fees

Fair Play on Fees has announced it will be lodging court documents to commence legal action against Westpac and BNZ for unfair exception fees.

The Court documents will be filed at the Auckland High Court on Wednesday, August 20.

Fair Play on Fees lawyer Andrew Hooker says the decision to lodge the Court documents follows recent developments in Australia where an appeal is being heard against the original judgment to class further fees as unlawful. The Australian appeal is to be heard in the High Court of Australia on 18 and 19 August 2014.

“Last year we announced we were would take action against these banks but held off filing the documents until judgments in Australia gave us a clearer picture of how the case could unfold in New Zealand.” He said. Andrew Hooker explained “We can now file against Westpac and BNZ with the knowledge that Courts in similar cases have found penalty fees, such as credit card late payment fees, to be unlawful.”

In February, Justice Michelle Gordon found that ANZ’s credit card late fees in Australia of up to $35 were a penalty and were ‘‘extravagant and unconscionable’. She also waived the usual six-year time limit on legal action saying there was no restriction on how far back class members could claim the late fees because they did not know the fees were unlawful until the lawsuit was lodged in 2010. Fair Play on Fees will argue the same point of contention in New Zealand.

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Once the Court documents have been filed, BNZ and Westpac will be served with copies of the documents.

More than 41,600 people have registered to take part in the Fair Play on Fees action so far.

Hooker says customers of Westpac and BNZ need to sign up if they want to be involved in the action. Customers can join the action against unfair bank fees and join Fair Play on Fees by registering at www.fairplayonfees.co.nz.

ENDS


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