Richwhit vs NatWest - Heres hoping!!!

[richwhit1]

Hi all,

Ok my very first foray into this forum thing although I've spent the last 3/4 weeks trawling the site and trying to ascertain as much info as I can as I didn't want to trouble anyone else or sound an idiot!!!

I apologise in advance if some of my questions below have been answered previously but honestly I have been trying to find some clear cut answers to these for the last few hours and am now finally wilting and would ask some of you experienced reclaimers who have gone through this before just to give me some re-assurance at this stage.

OK - heres where I am at:-

1)S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) sent off and all of my statements from NatWest have arrived.
2)I have gone through the statements and noted down all items shown as CHARGES on the statements. In my case these are broken down into UNPAID ITEMS, REFERRAL CHARGE and CHARGES (for a particular month). These are the only charges that I have input onto the spreadsheet. Am I correct in thinking that I am not able to reclaim interest NatWest has debited from my account on a monthly basis as this is a a genuine fee that they have charged me on the amount I was overdrwn?
3)The 'contractual' and 'compunded contractual' interest issue has completely befuddled me so have used the spreadsheet named 'SIMPLE - 1. Throughout claim with contractual interest' and not the spreadsheet 2. compunded contractual interest - again is this correct??
4) I have left the interest rate on this spreadsheet as 8% - again is this correct as I think I've seen other threads stating this is too low and others are claiming much higher interest amounts??
5) My total charges - I'm shocked and embarrassed at - amount to £2423 with the interest calculated on the spreadsheet as £443.23. I am now about to start on my Prelim letter and just need re-assurance that at this stage I am only asking for the reimbursement of £2423 and not the £443,23 interest (which I can only claim for should things go to court), I only ask this as on BankFodders Prelim Template it states
"I calculate that you have taken £XXXXX plus £XXXX which you have charged me in overdraft interest for the sum you have taken......." - this bit is confusing me slightly as I now am unsure whther I am claiming for my interest or not at this stage!!!

As I say I just a little nervous as to doing things correctly at this stage, whether I'm claiming correctly and whether I have used the correct spreadsheet. I have tried trawling around to get answers before asking for help but I'd be really, really appreciative if any of the more experienced / knowledgable members out there could just give me the thumbs up or advise if they would be doing anything differently at this stage.

Thanks a million in advance.

Richwhit

[Deller]

I have answered your points in red.

1)S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) sent off and all of my statements from NatWest have arrived.
2)I have gone through the statements and noted down all items shown as CHARGES on the statements. In my case these are broken down into UNPAID ITEMS, REFERRAL CHARGE and CHARGES (for a particular month). These are the only charges that I have input onto the spreadsheet. Am I correct in thinking that I am not able to reclaim interest NatWest has debited from my account on a monthly basis as this is a a genuine fee that they have charged me on the amount I was overdrwn? Yes these are the correct charges you can claim. With regards to the interest you areable to reclaim part of this, the part which is deemed to have occurred due to the fees applied to your account. If you use the Excel advanced spreadsheet it works out what portion of the interest is reclaimable.
3)The 'contractual' and 'compunded contractual' interest issue has completely befuddled me so have used the spreadsheet named 'SIMPLE - 1. Throughout claim with contractual interest' and not the spreadsheet 2. compunded contractual interest - again is this correct??
4) I have left the interest rate on this spreadsheet as 8% - again is this correct as I think I've seen other threads stating this is too low and others are claiming much higher interest amounts?? The 8% is fine, this is what the courts deem to be a reasonable rate of which you can reclaim had the money been in your account.
5) My total charges - I'm shocked and embarrassed at - amount to £2423 with the interest calculated on the spreadsheet as £443.23. I am now about to start on my Prelim letter and just need re-assurance that at this stage I am only asking for the reimbursement of £2423 and not the £443,23 interest (which I can only claim for should things go to court), I only ask this as on BankFodders Prelim Template it states
"I calculate that you have taken £XXXXX plus £XXXX which you have charged me in overdraft interest for the sum you have taken......." - this bit is confusing me slightly as I now am unsure whther I am claiming for my interest or not at this stage!!! Yes the 8% is only reclaimable once you reach the court stage.

[natwesttookmymoney]

"Yes the 8% is only reclaimable once you reach the court stage."
Just to make absolutely clear: you CAN reclaim at this stage the interest they have been charged on your charges - the contractual interest rate. You CANNOT reclaim at this stage the 8%, which is statutory interest. You add that on top when you file your claim.
OK, D?
Westy

[richwhit1]

Hi Deller1 - you have so made my day as I really was hoping to get a response from you!!!

You seem to be the main man/woman regards NatWest and I've had my fingers crossed you'd have a look at my thread.

Thanks for clarifying everything for me but justy one further question if I may. You have said that I can reclaim part of the interest which is deemed to have occured due to the fees and this can be done on the Advanced spreadsheet. I had a tentative look at this earlier and was in knots after only a few minutes of trying to calculate this. In your opinion is it going to be worth probably the few hours it will take me to work the spreadshhet out for the additional amount I can claim - at a rough guess i reckon for the entirety of my account (circa 3.5 years) the total I've been charged in interest to be - gosh just totted it up - just over £1000. Basically if it is going to take me a good few hours of scratching my head for only £20 or so I'll probably leave it unless the spreadsheet is more user friendly than I think.

Any v. rough guesses on how much difference the reclaimable interest could work out at??

Thanks again,
richwhit

[richwhit1]

Thanks for looking at my thread Westy - have you any thoughts on whether it would be worth my financially while trying to work out how the Advanced Spreadsheet works on the total interest charged of circa £1000??

Thanks for any advices,
richwhit

[Deller]

Well with my claim the interest I had paid was about £680 of which I am reclaiming about £550.

It is totally up to you whether or not you wish to reclaim the interest, a lot of people don't bother but I wanted to screw NW for every penny I possibly could.

Have a look at this spreadsheet, I found it fairly straightforward.

http://www.cag-files.co.uk/barracad/...arges-calc.xls

[natwesttookmymoney]

Hi, Richwhit
I am honoured to be asked. I was going to take the hump!

Anyway, I think it depends on your circumstances. Mine have been that I have either been in overdraft or in loan (to clear the charges-generated overdraft) during the for the whole period - just under 6 years - so I'm claiming the authorised overdraft interest rate on all the charges. It's a clearly demonstrable loss. That means that I don't have to go advanced: I simply entered each item, the reason, the amount, the date and let the compound interest calculator do its thing. I've then got another column for the 8 per cent, using the same formula but different interest rate (obviously) which comes up with a third total.

I didn't find it a huge chore beyond actually entering the data. Once I'd got it working (see my other threads) it was a doddle - and fun: I played with different interest rates and have even calculated the point at which NW owe me £12K. It will be February 22, 2007, if you're interested.

It's up to you to decide whether you want to do any more than that. I'm a few weeks ahead of you in the process so you can use me as early warning. If NW kick up about interest, I will post up and you will see it. In fact, I'll alert you.

Best
Westy

[richwhit1]

Deller1 / Westy - thanks for your replies. I don't think I'm that stupid so I'm going to give it a go working it out although may need your assistance along the way if OK with you.

I'll sit down later this evening and make a start on looking at the spreadsheet as my 4 and 7 year olds have just bundled in from school and I don't think I'm going to get the peace and quiet I'm going need for this!!!!

Thanks again and will post back once I hit my first stumbling block on the Advanced spreadsheet!!

richwhit

[Deller]

No proplem richwit, we're here to help....hey Westy!!

Like Westy stated, it's not so much confussing as more of a chore....but a chore that in my view will be well worth it in the end seeing asthough it will increse the amount reclaimable.
This spreadsheet does all the workings for you, so you are able to distinguish between the charges, the interest on charges and the 8% interest (to be used at a later stage).

Let us know if you stumble across any problems.