The Supreme Court handed down judgment in the case of Office of Fair Trading v Abbey National plc and Others [2009] UKSC 6 on 25th November 2009. The case concerned an appeal against the decision of the Court of Appeal that the respondent was not precluded from investigating the appellants’ charges under their customer contracts.

The Supreme Court stated that the key point was whether the charges were excluded from review by virtue of regulation 6 of the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 SI 1999/2083. Said regulation stated that the level of price or remuneration in relation to the supply of goods of services was not to be taken into account when assessing fairness.

Considering the parties’ submissions, the Supreme Court found that the charges clearly fell within the exception provided by regulation 6. The charges were not concealed, and any monies to be paid under the contract would fall within the ambit of regulation 6. The Supreme Court therefore allowed the appeal, and declined to refer the matter to the European Court of Justice.