Petition · past parliament

Cancel bank overdraft charges for 3 months during Covid-19 crisis

Rejected 21 signatures

What the petition asks

The banks themselves are only taking government enforced measures to ease peoples financial pain during these difficult times. Daily overdraft charges only make the hardship worse. It will take direct pressure from the government to force the banks to review their policies.
The pure greed of the banks is disgusting. They are happy for us, the tax payers, to bail them out when their greed causes a recession due to their lending policies, but when we need them to cut us a little slack by cancelling overdraft charges for a short period due to a worldwide pandemic, they relish the opportunity of profiting from our hardship. As each day passes more and more people fall into their overdrafts. We are all in this horrible situation together, show us some compassion.

Why it was rejected

There was already a petition about this issue. Duplicates are rejected so signatures collect in one place.

You may wish to sign this petition calling for the same action.

Encourage lenders to suspend interest, fees and repayments during COVID-19: Encourage lenders to suspend interest, fees and repayments during COVID-19

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/

Timeline

29 Mar 2020 Petition opened for signatures
15 Apr 2020 Rejected by the Petitions Committee

Key facts

Signatures 21
Status Rejected
Rejected 15 Apr 2020

Follow this petition

Sign in to get an email when the government responds, a debate is scheduled or held, or the petition closes.

Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.