This petition was submitted during the 2019-2024 parliament
Rejected petition Suspend bank overdraft charges for the duration of the Covid 19 epidemic
Banks will soon be charging interest rates of 35-40% for overdrafts. At a time when the Bank Base Rate is 0.1%, the banks will make millions out of the suffering of ordinary people. Please stop this by suspending all bank overdraft charges for the period of this crisis.
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Thousands of people will soon be facing a financial crisis, and while the government has taken enormous steps to help those people, the banks will be cashing in once again. These rates of interest are usury, and destroy the confidence of ordinary people in the banking system, who will see the assistance provided by the government, disappear into high bank charges.
This petition was rejected
Why was this petition rejected?
There’s already a petition about this issue. We cannot accept a new petition when we already have one about a very similar issue.
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Encourage lenders to suspend interest, fees and repayments during COVID-19: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/305297
Since starting this petition, many UK banks have announced measures to help people who are experiencing financial difficulties due to coronavirus. You should look at your bank's website or contact them directly to find out more.
You can read the Financial Conduct Authority's announcement on the temporary financial relief that banks can offer customers here: https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/fca-confirms-temporary-financial-relief-customers-impacted-coronavirus
You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:
NHS website: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
UK Government website: https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus
You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips
You may also be interested to know that because of the large number of petitions that have been started in relation to coronavirus, the Petitions Committee has been questioning the Government about its response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Find out more and watch the Committee put questions suggested by petitioners to Government Ministers and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/news/145767/committee-question-deputy-chief-medical-officer-and-ministers-on-coronavirus-response/
Read correspondence with Government Ministers asking further questions: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/publications/3/correspondence/
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.