Milions of people could incur penalty fees for their payments not arriving on time.

Credit card holders could face late payment fees totalling £150 million thanks to the current strike, which has brought the Royal Mail's delivery service to a halt.

Lenders automatically impose penalty charges of £12 a month for those who fail to pay on time, meaning those with two cards could face fines of £24.

The Bacs Family Finance Planner claims that, of the 30.2 million credit and store cards in circulation, just 35 per cent of people pay the minimum amount by direct debit.

Meanwhile, 13.1 million with active cards rely on the postal services to deliver their cheque before the penalty deadline.

Clare Francis, editor of moneysupermarket.com, said the strike action currently crippling the Royal Mail will inconvenience many people and cost them money.

"Even accounting for dormant cards and cardholders who pay their bills by direct debit, the mail backlog could generate millions of pounds in charges for card providers," she stated.

Meanwhile, the British Chambers of Commerce has called on the government to intervene in the current postal strikes.

Written by Mark Moore


Article Added: 21/09/2009 09:18:16