Consumers Fare Better with Class Action vs. Arbitration in Cases Against Financial Institutions

From the Economic Policy Institute (http://www.epi.org/):

Members of Congress are using flawed numbers to promote legislation that would deprive consumers of the right to join together in class action lawsuits against financial institutions. The bill would repeal a new rule that bans companies from requiring consumers to submit disputes to an arbitrator. This bill would be bad for consumers. EPI’s Heidi Shierholz finds that while the average consumer who wins a claim in arbitration receives $5,389, consumers win only 9 percent of disputes in claims they bring. But when companies use arbitration to pursue claims or counterclaims against consumers, they win 93 percent of the time. Overall, the average consumer who enters arbitration with a bank or lender is ordered to pay $7,725. Read the fact sheet at http://www.epi.org/publication/correcting-the-record-consumers-fare-better-under-class-actions-than-arbitration/.