Household HSBC Watch

A LAW student paid £5,000 by Abbey National after he accused the bank of “excessive” charges yesterday made legal claims against EIGHT others.

Father-of-three Stephen Hone, 29, was charged £2,000 in current account fees in six years. He sued and the bank failed to mount a defence, later agreeing a settlement.

Yesterday he filed similar claims against the HSBC, Halifax, Barclays, Lloyds TSB, NatWest, Cooperative, Alliance & Leicester and the Nationwide Building Society.

The banks have 14 days to respond. If they do not, Mr Hone, from Plymouth, said it will amount to an admission that their charges are unfair.

He said: “These charges are a rip-off. Hopefully they’ll be brave enough to publicly justify them.”