Wednesday week (25th November) will be D-Day for the banks in the long-running bank charges saga after it was announced earlier today that the Supreme Court will deliver their ruling on the legal battle according to MoneySavingExpert.

Both the High Court and the Court of Appeal have ruled that charges can be assessed for fairness by the OFT, and if the Supreme Court upholds that view then it could reopen the floodgates for consumer claims for compensation against their banks.

The hearing is scheduled to be handed down at 9.45am where the law lords will deliver their verdict into whether or not charges of around £39 each for exceeding overdraft limits or returning a direct debit are fair. The Supreme Court has already hinted that it thinks they are unjust and are widely expected to throw out the banks’ appeal.

Over one million claims are currently stuck in limbo and clogging up the legal system, thanks to a FSA waiver and prior to the litigation banks had already reimbursed consumers with more than £1 billion before claiming was suspended.

However, even if the Supreme Court does find in favour of the OFT there is little to prevent the banks challenging their findings and so continuing to drag the whole affair on for much longer. According to MSE, it would be hoped that political intervention after the verdict would prevent any further appeals, especially given the fact that some of the banks in question, including Lloyds TSB and HBoS are taxpayer-owned.

“I’ve had letters from Messrs Brown, Cameron and Clegg all effectively committing to that and MoneySavingExpert.com, with its 8 million users a month, will try and ensure they stick to their promise.” Martin Lewis, consumer champion and founder of MoneySavingExpert.com commented.

Related personalfinanosaurus posts:

1. Tories want bank charges compensation repaid ‘quickly and fairly’
2. Bank charges come back into legal spotlight following court ruling
3. Tories label bank charges as unfair

In the world of personal finance there are a great number of financial terms which get bandied about alot, however many of these can be difficult for anyone who does not have something higher than a Masters degree in Economics to understand. To help out I have decided to try to demystify some of the regular phrases with this handy little cheat list. And here at Cashzilla we are always happy to receive any additional definitions that any of you out there may want to provide to make the finance jungle just that bit more understandable.

Hedge fund manager:
Gardener who is serious about their savings

Salary:
A posh salad vegetable

Broker:
Unsuccessful investment

Bull market:
One that is not very good

Bear Market:
Where Paddington and Winnie The Pooh buy groceries

Banker:
Job title and cockney rhyming slang describing the job holder

Institutional Investor:
Financial trader specialising in care homes

Stock analyst:
Restaurant critic

Drop shipping:
Placard statement by air freight company

Time management:
How to display a collection of Rolex watches

Depression:
A sad hole into which everyone’s money disappears

Black Monday 1987:
Unsuccessful follow up to New Order’s Blue Monday

Fanny Mae:
But seldom does

Freddie Mac:
Aka Frederic the light brown overcoat

Millionaire:
Someone who aspires to be a billionaire

Billionaire:
Someone who never learnt to share as a child

Wall Street Crash:
Public safety announcement

Philanthropy:
The art of letting everyone know how much money you have given anonymously to charity

Related personalfinanosaurus posts:

1. Google Finance – a really serious article for once. Sorry.
2. Maestro not good enough for Google Checkout