​68 percent of Britons ‘tricked’ by small print financial fees - poll

More than half of Britons say they have been hit with extra fees on their credit cards, bank accounts mortgage or insurance in the last year. Two thirds say lenders and insurers are tricking them with dubious and difficult to compare headline prices.

A survey conducted by the consumer campaign group Which? showed that 68 percent of 2,000 Britons polled feel that companies use additional charges to trick them.

Which? believes that in order to appear at the top of price comparison websites, insurance firms artificially kept the headline figure for their premiums below average hiding the extra charges in small print.

It says these tactics are also being used by financial companies on mortgages, credit cards, bank accounts and all types of insurance.

Which? Is demanding the Financial Conduct Authority regulator reviews the charges and fees across the industry.

“Consumers are fed up with being hit with unexpected, additional costs for financial products that lead to them paying more than they bargained for,” Richard Lloyd, the Which? executive director said.

“We want the financial services industry to stop sneaky fees and charges, and put an end to excessive, unclear and hard to compare fees that do nothing to improve the low level of trust in these markets,” Lloyd added.