Citizens Advice has called for clarity over the issue of charging current account banking customers for unauthorised overdraft use.

The High Court ruled recently that the Office of Fair Trading can oblige banks not to levy what are considered to be unfair charges but Citizens Advice wants to see the issue resolved conclusively in the interest of people with money problems.

Overdraft charges are particularly troublesome for people with debt management and money problems and the charity wants these individuals to be relieved of unnecessary additions to their financial burdens.

"We see many cases where bank charges have made people’s financial difficulties much worse, so we need to see banks sticking to their own code of practice by ensuring they don’t impose unreasonable charges on people already in debt," said Teresa Perchard, director of policy at Citizens Advice.

Debt management is one of the topics discussed in a book entitled A Citizens Advice Guide to Your Rights, which was released recently by the charity.