Lateral loads on piles arise from a variety of causes. In the case of an embankment adjacent to a piled foundation, the lateral loads acting on the piles are induced by the horizontal movement of the soil as a result of the embankment load. Allowances have to be made to ensure that the piles have the capacity to resist the applied bending moments. In this paper, a simple method of estimating the applied bending moments in piles is proposed, based on the finite element method and the Winkler foundation method. Various charts are provided for estimating the lateral displacements of the piles. In addition, analyses have been carried out to study the behaviour of piles under the effects of different loading conditions and boundary conditions.