May 17 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Supreme Court gave consumers a victory in a dispute over how much interest secured creditors can charge on debts in some personal-bankruptcy cases.

The court ruled for an Indiana couple who claimed a lender shouldn't be allowed to charge 21 percent interest on a truck loan as part of their Chapter 13 debt-restructuring plan. The ruling lets the couple seek an interest rate based on the prime lending rate, which was 8 percent at the time of their bankruptcy case in 1999 and now is 4 percent.

To contact the reporter on this story: Laurie Asseo in Washington at lasseo1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 17, 2004 15:03 EDT