The Financial Services Authority has threatened lenders with legal action if they refuse to comply with proposed actions on exit fees . The regulator wants to make sure that customers are not having their charges increased unfairly during their contracts, but the lenders are defending their right to change the fee during the contract term.
The Financial Services Authority has said that if they can't persuade the lenders, they will get an injunction and go to court. They have said 'The negotiations are quite detailed and both sides are putting their points across with real vigour, and it is getting quite legalistic as lenders have got lawyers looking at the legal points'.
Our view
The regulator sets the rules to protect consumers as well for the good of the industry, if lenders are imposing unfair penalties and they are ignoring directives from the governing body then fine them!