mackerel vs barclays

[mackerel]

Hello all

 

I was really into getting my charges back from barclays about a year ago, but wigged out . Now they have terminated my account :mad: and i was wondering if i can still proceed with getting my charges back? I have my statements already and have written out the letters, but was reading that i cannot being until after a hearing is over into bank charge practice - is that correct?

[Bigmac versus]

Hi mackeral continue as normal regardless of what they tell you.

Send them your prelim to start the ball rolling, have you had a read of the FAQ's yet?

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/faqs-please-read-these/

[slick132]

Hi Mackerel,

 

Have they already closed your a/c, or threatened to do it. You should avoid this if it's not already too late.

 

Have you set up a new (parachute) account so you can carry on banking.

 

The OFT test case has not yet been concluded but, as Bigmac says, you should start the reclaim process now.

 

If you lodge a claim at court, your case will be Stayed (put on hold) along with 1,000's of others, but your claim will then be ready to roll when the Test Case is determined.

[mackerel]

Thank you both for your replies. The FAQ's are a great resource. I believe i skimmed over them but gave them a proper read this evening

 

I already have another account, but am thinking on opening another, just to be on the safe side

 

My account has been terminated since a couple of months ago. My overdraft limit was 2500, but due to me not putting any money it and direct debit charges, it has spiralled to nearly 3500 overdrawn. In the account termination letter they said they will be adding further interest at £1.30 per day until it is brought back to the limit. Is this "terminated" interest included in the calculations in the instructions provided in the faq's, or should i add this myself?

[slick132]

Hi Mackerel,

 

Just concentrate on putting your SOC together and sending off the Prelim ltr to the bank.

 

If the a/c o/d is made up purely of penalty chgs, you can reclaim the int't they're chging you as well, on the penalty chgs.

 

See how the penalty chgs compare with the o/d - ie how much of the o/d is penalty chgs. The interest may be relatively insignificant but this is not my strong point and we may need help with this. However, this need not delay your Prelim and LBA letters.

 

As long as you have a new a/c set up, that should suffice - not sure you need another really.

[mackerel]

ok, feel a bit stressed with this one.

 

Got a letter the other day from 1st Credit threatening legal proceedings on behalf of barclays. The letter says it's a final warning. There may have been previous but i must have binned them.

 

So i need to do things pretty quick - if i send off my initial request for repayment, can i contact 1st Credit and tell them to halt any action against me as i am currently in legal negotiations with barclays to reclaim the monies in question?

[slick132]

Hi Mackerel,

 

Stop stressing and we'll get this sorted for you.

 

I need to get this merged with your old thread so it makes some sense. Please use your exising thread to keep your case together and easy to access.

[slick132]

In the meantime, please confirm exactly what stage you're at in reclaiming your chgs from the bank. (reply here just now).

[mackerel]

Yes, sorry i can see it doesn't make much sense. I posted in a bit of a panic. I explained in an earlier thread how the account had been terminated. If you could merge the threads, that would be great.

 

Right now, i'm just totalling up the charges, then i'll send them an initial request for repayment first thing in the morning. I'll post back with the amount due.

[slick132]

Threads will be merged v soon.

 

Prepare your SOC and send a Prelim Letter following the guide in Link No1 in my signature below.

[mackerel]

ok, just finished totalling up the charges. I'm due £1275 in charges and a further £1775 in interest, totalling £3050.

 

However i'm unsure of the interest to be charged. It says on the statement the interest under my overdraft is 1.22% (do i multiply this by 30 to get the monthly interest?), but when my balance is over my overdraft limit it nearly doubles to 2%. Since the last 6 months my balance has been over my overdraft limit, should i figure a way of including this interest in the repayments, or let it go?

 

Another factor that might be important - when i was told my account would be terminated, i was told i would be charged interest at £1.36 per day. In fact the last 6 statements or so before the account was terminated my overdraft interest was at around £42 per month. Is this relevant to the initial request for repayment?

[slick132]

Hi Mack,

 

If you are going to reclaim CI, you should read this - http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/145027-interest-tutorial.html

 

The fig you quote of 1.22% sounds wrong to me. I don't think it's a daily figure, nor is it a monthly figure. Is is poss the amount they'll charge you over the BoEngland base rate.

 

Read the link above and see if that helps.

 

One thing's for sure - you don't want to rush in getting the claim or interest wrong. Claiming CI isn't straightforward (for me anyway!) but it should be possible because, recently at least, the charges have led to you being charged interest at the bank's Contractual Rate on their charges.

 

If you're still stuck, I'll try and get help from someone more knowledgeable on CI.

[mackerel]

Any help on understanding it would be great.

 

I just can't see on my statements any interest %ages apart from the two i mentioned in my previous post. Here they are verbatim:

 

The current monthly interest rate on your overdraft up to £2,000: 1.22%

Over £2,000: 2.05%

Then under Accounr Details:

Credit Interest rate: 0.10%

Is that it- the credit interest rate?

[slick132]

So the 1.22% and 2.05% ARE the monthly rates.

 

There's a spready here which enables you to calc CI on each charge - Compound interest calculator

 

In the top right hand box you can say how many "rests" there are - in your case this will be 12. This only works out the charges on individual basis.

 

Unfortunately, Steven (the Mod'r who wrote the Interest Tutorial) is away just now but I'll see if someone else can look in and advise you better.

[slick132]

Update - I found an interest converter which gave me APR equivalents for the the monthly rates you gave as follows:-

 

1.22% monthly = 15.7% APR

 

2.05% monthly = 27.6% APR

 

That should work on the spready - let us know how that goes.

[pt2537]

2 threads merged

[mackerel]

Recieved another letter this morning, this time from LCS Solicitors on behalf of 1st Credit. They say i need to pay in full to 1st credit within 14 days or they'll issue proceedings in the county court.

 

I changed the spreadsheet (the same one i'm using in the barclaycard claim, the contract-interest spreadsheet (interestcalc.xls)). If i claim at 27.6% then i am owed just under £1600 in contractual interest. If i claim at 15.7% this basically halves to around £720.

 

I suppose it would be "easier" to simply claim at 15.7 for the whole duration of the account. I would like to claim fully though; like i said a lot of the time my account was over my overdraft limit therefore would be within the 27.6% bracket. Especially the last 6 months, there was nothing going in or out of the account but i was being charged £40 a month in interest! There is also a pressing time issue to be taken into consideration, so maybe i should just settle for the 15.7. Really unsure.

 

@slick: thanks for that link, i'm not really sure how to use it though. Do i put a single (£30) charge into the top left box, the rate of interest (15.7 if the charge occurred whilst under my overdraft limit, 27.6 if the charge occurred whilst over my overdraft limit), the two dates being the start and end date of the month (as shown on my statements) that the charge occurred in (what if i get 3 charges in one month, should i simply put in the top left box £90?), and the what about the checkbox? Also i thought i read somewhere that you can't claim contractual interest as well as compound interest, or am i getting my wires crossed?

Edited June 6, 2008 by mackerel

[slick132]

Hi Mack,

 

I'll ask Steven or another from the Site Team to stop by and advise if they're around. The following is my opinion.

 

To work out the Contractual Int't as accurately as poss, you'd have to vary the rate from lower to higher to reflect the actual rate the bank applied. This would involve many calculations.

 

A compromise would be to conservatively estimate the average applied over the period. Remember, you just have to show you are being reasonable to recoup what you have lost, as opposed to being greedy by overestimating.

 

One more thing. Have you checked the int't you'd get back if you just claimed the simple 8% Statutory int't you'd get when you file at court. If the difference isn't TOO great, this may be an acceptable alternative and would enable you to get your reclaim underway.

[mackerel]

A compromise would be to conservatively estimate the average applied over the period. Remember, you just have to show you are being reasonable to recoup what you have lost, as opposed to being greedy by overestimating.

 

So maybe a sum involving the number of charges that occur under the overdraft limit (@15%) added to the number of charges that occur over the overdraft limit (@26%) divided by the total number of charges, giving me an average "charge" interest rate?

 

One more thing. Have you checked the int't you'd get back if you just claimed the simple 8% Statutory int't you'd get when you file at court. If the difference isn't TOO great, this may be an acceptable alternative and would enable you to get your reclaim underway.

So i cannot claim contractual interest as well as the 8% s.69? How can i do the sums to see which is the better alternative?

[slick132]

So maybe a sum involving .......

Yes, as long as you can be seen to be acting reasonably in calc'g your estimate.

 

So i cannot claim contractual interest as well

You can claim CI plus 8% on top when you file at court.

 

However, I was meaning that you should do the calcs using just 8% Stat'y Int't to check if the difference really make it worthwhile claiming CI.

[mackerel]

ok i'll try doing the average "charge" sums and see how that tolls up.

 

Is the statutory 8% just a simple addition of 8% on the amount due in charges? In other words, £1275 + 8%? How do i calculate the s.69 interest otherwise?

 

Thanks for the help

[Bigmac versus]

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/bank-templates-library/182-6-interest-calculation-spreadsheets.html

[slick132]

Hi Mack,

 

Reconsidering - will post further asap - taking advice about your claim.

Edited June 7, 2008 by slick132
getting Site Team opinion

[slick132]

Hi Mackerel,

 

Use the Site spready which Bigmac linked above in post #22.

 

Fill in all the charges you paid to Barclays and complete the spready in accordance with the Interest Tutorial which I linked earlier. Don't be concerned about what rate you were charged at different times.

[mackerel]

ok, i got the simple one for banks for excel. I'll fill it out, then reply with the numbers the spreadsheet gives me