Hello everyone and Happy New Year. I have not been following up on my action against NW as I have been in hospital for knee replacement surgery. I am now just about back on my feet, albeit with a walking stick(!) so I am hoping to get stuck in again soon. I must get the file out and add all the new charges they have added since I started this lark. Perhaps I'll plan for a good holiday as I have missed a Christmas payout. Jude.

Another article in The Indie today. 'Bank charges to soar as lenders try to recoup £3bn cost of OFT ruling'. Which? estimates that they could lose up yo two-thirds of the £4.7bn they earned last year from unauthorised OD charges. Once I get my money back I will do my utmost to stay in the black!

On Saturday The Independent had an article in its Save & Spend financial section entitled 'Banks making illegal charges will pay the price in court'. It quotes Which?, Martin Lewis and CAG. Which? estimates that Britain's biggest banks earned £4.7bn from unauthorised overdraft charges last year alone. It also says, 'The banks are very worried that a court ruling could set a legal precedent for compensation payments, so for now - particularly in advance of the OFT's ruling - they are keen to settle cases out of court. In the few cases that have come before a judge, customers have won some interesting victories. Two weeks ago, one court ruled that the cost for credit card company Egg of processing a late payment was just £5 - less than half the limit set by the OFT'. It looks encouraging for those of us with claims going through, and it would seem more and more people are joining in.

I am getting ready to do my N1 claim too. This thread is so useful - and very entertaining! Keep up the good work.

Right, Here we go! LBA, duly amended as advised by Redsue, and further copy of schedule waiting to go to the Post Office. New account all set up in readiness for the inevitable brush-off. I'll keep you posted, and thanks again for all the help. Nationwide 3.10.2006 S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) 20.10.2006 Copy statements received 28.10.2006 Request for Payment 2.11.2006 Standard reply - no we won't! 16.11.2006 LBA

The suspense is killing. I can't wait for the next episode! Good luck. Jude.

Thanks for that, redsue. It's really helpful. I have been following your thread with great interest.

Thanks Debt and Sarah I will go for the one claim then, and send an updated prelim letter to be on the safe side. It looks as though my parachute account with the Co-op is going ahead without being referred. I am amazed - I thought it would have been far harder! I am so grateful for the hand-holding, as I am a cowardy custard on my own.

Please can someone help? I have decided to split my claim to avoid going over £5000 as I want to claim 24.9% Do I need to send a fresh Prelim letter or can I just put it in the LBA? I plan to follow redsue's advice and have 7.75% as a fallback position. I have an appointment this afternoon to set up a parachute account.

I have spent a while redoing the spreadsheets at 24.9% and 7.75%, and have separated the claim into 2 so that I don't go over the £5000 small claims limit. I think I will go for it with a fall back position of the 7.75%, and then claim for the rest later. Can someone confirm that I will need to send a fresh Request for Payment letter to take account of the changed figures, please?

Thanks Redsue and Rog37 I certainly intend to stick with it. I don't like being ripped off.

Redsue - I am completely useless at maths and find interest rates confusing. What I need to know is which of Vampiress' amazing spreadsheets I can safely use. I am going for the simple ones and not attempting unauthorised interest. They state the interest rates as 8% and 18.2%. I am sure they would not be there if they weren't right, but I cannot find the rationale behind them. Basically I need someone to say that it's OK to use the 18.2% one. If I do, do I have to amend my claim to include the interest from the beginning, because if so it would take my claim over £6000.

I have been looking at various threads and the FAQs to decide which rate of interest to go for. Vampiress recommends compounded contractual interest and her spreadsheet states it is at 18.2%. Having put all my figures in it is very tempting to go for it, but I can't find the justification for claiming it. Can anyone please give me some advice? I don't want to miss out by being too greedy, but I could really do with the extra cash if I can justify it.

I had another go and it worked perfectly. All saved and ready for the off when the 14 days are up!

I have been trying out Vampiress' spreadsheets. Why is it that the one with simple interest seems to work automatically, but the compounded contractual one doesn't. What am I doing wrong? I thought I would try all the options as I would like to get the most possible from the bank. It seems fair do's after all the trouble they have caused me.

The expected *** off letter has arrived, so I shall get my LBA letter ready. Things are really looking up. I shall be 65 next month and it seems I shall get a bit more on my pension!! Incidentally, I only retired 3 years ago and used a computer at work for ages before that, although inputting details of children's immunisations, etc wasn't that taxing! I was a Health Visitor and we had to log all our activities so that managers could check we saw lots of people - the quality didn't matter. Just the numbers. Perhaps I should have a rant on the NHS thread.

Thank you so much, Debt Mountain. It just makes me mad to think how much they have taken. There was a piece in the financial pages of my paper about the huge bonuses bankers get, so getting some back seems only fair!

I have typed and signed my Prelim letter ready to go recorded delivery on Monday morning. I used the online banking service to ask when my account was opened and now have that information. I am claiming nearly £4000, so with interest it should be a great Christmas! Thanks for all the help here.

Can you change your GP?

My splendid folder of duplicate statements has arrived. To my shame/horror the total of charges adds up to £3597.50. I managed to get a couple of refunds from Nationwide last year. Do I just leave out the charges for that month? I am not sure how to allow for them otherwise.

I have never used a spreadsheet (I am a pensioner - Silver surfer is the word, I think!) so I have bought an idiot's guide to help me work it all out. I am determined to get this sorted. After checking online they owe me over £1600 just for the last 15months, so it will be more for 6 years. I am so grateful to have my hand held here. Thanks everyone.

I am looking into setting up another account. Alliance and Leicester is suggested by Martin Lewis so I went to their website. However, I do have a CCJ and adverse credit history and their site says the account is not for such as me. Any advice, please?

I don't believe it! I just checked my account to see if my maintenance from my ex has arrived yet, and it looks as though they have refused to honour my £10 for my statements. Perhaps this is a new way of stalling?

My letter replying to the S.A.R - (Subject Access Request) request has arrived so now I am waiting for my duplicate statements. The 40 days countdown has begun! 3.10.2006 Nationwide SAR 12.10.2006 Reply and booklet.

It is great to see the support on this site. One small question - I have had my Nationwide account for ages and can't remember when I opened it. Does that matter?