Interest topples my claim over £5000

[Aitchj]

Can anybody please explain to me what 'Manual Intervention' is in terms of the information disclosed in the DPA records. Can evidence of Manual intervention be detrimental to my claim? Thank you Aitchj

[cheddar]

Manual Intervention is anything that basically isn't automatically processed on your account. It is important that you get any details of MI or more likely the lack of them, then the bank cannot turn round and say your charges were applied 'by hand' and therefore cost them lots of money to apply.

[Aitchj]

Thank you very much, that makes sense now. I do feel it is imperative to be as armed with as many of the facts as possible before venturing into these things. Thanks again.

[Aitchj]

I have noticed that a few members have sent their Natwest DPA requests to an a ddress in Edinburgh. I posted mine accompanied with £10 cheque to 135 Bishopsgate, London - as indicated on the ICO's Data Protection Register. Which is the correct address to send it to please? It might be worth me sending the request with another sheque to Edinburgh ?!?

[barracad]

Threads merged - please stick to one thread.

 

You have sent the DPa request to Natwest's Head Office.

 

This is fine it will get dealt with.

[Aitchj]

I have had trouble using the spreadsheet templates as I use a Mac. Having resigned myself to the painstaking task of entering each and every charge onto my own spreadsheet, I used the online interest calculator within the CAG site to check that the calculations shown on the example spreadsheet (for simple charges - English) were correct. The days passed tally but the interest charge differs. Not by much but that's not the point. I need to submit an ACCURATE schedule with my preliminary approach for repayment letter. How can I do this? If anyone can shed any light on this I would be very grateful.

[natwesttookmymoney]

Hi, Aitchj

I encountered the same problem and manged to work it out. Some answers are in in another thread - named Help, Vampiress!! - but, to save you time, I've copied them below. I assume you have Excel (Office X)? It will work and it saves lots of time. Otherwise, use csv, it's not too bad.

 

1. Regarding difficulty in getting the compound interest formula to download:

 

DONE IT! Albeit tortuously!

I was able to copy the formula from the highlighted cell as shown on the BOTTOM RIGHT, not in the top bar, on the 'formulas' page and enter it in to the downloaded spreadsheet on my computer. I inserted =SUM before the first bracket and - bingo! I copied the cell to the next cell down and - it was still referencing B13. B*ggr. well, I went ahead and copied a few individually, changing the reference from B13 to the appropriate cell each time (B14, 15, 16, etc), and was thinking 'this could take a while (or something like that). when I got to B20 - it suddenly got the message! the next paste automatically changed B13 to B21, then B22, and so on. I was then able to copy a bunch - half a dozen cells for starters - and they all changed appropriately!

It's only going to take a few moments, now.

So, there you are. Problem solved, no worries. Hurray!

 

2. Additional info:

 

And another thing...

Just noticed, I have to change all three of the variables manually until the program gets the idea. Then it does it automatically. Had some strange sums for a moment, there.....!

I think that £286,942,878 may exceed the Small Claims' upper limit...especially as it was for a (sample) £12 charge in 2002...!

Any other hillocks, I'll let you know.

 

It's working fine for me, now. Wish I had all my statements downloaded in Excel or csv format: it saves a huge amount of time.

 

Hope that helps.

 

[Aitchj]

Bless you sweetie!

 

I will give that a go now and hope that my sleeping baby doesn't wake up - I'm really chomping at the bit to get this schedule off to Natwest and recover the £7k (ish) in time for crimbo.

 

Thanks again - a huge help.

[Aitchj]

Can anyone please tell me which address to send my preliminary approach for repayment to ? Searched the forum - so many addresses - more confused now than when I started out. There must be a clever cookie out there somewhere with insider knowledge who can confidently give a contact name and address. I really do not want to give Natwest any excuse for delaying my claim. Many thanks

[cheddar]

If you send it to your branch they will send it on for you, any registered address will do.

[Aitchj]

After having spent months chasing 6 years of bank statements, writing letters, compiling spreadsheets and calculating interest, I am now in a situation whereby I can proceed with my court claim. My problem now is one sceptical if slightly cautious husband who has baulked somewhat at my asking of £250 court fees (Crimbo round the corner and a baby who needs all sorts). He has followed the charges recovery process with me carefully but has raised the question "has anybody actually lost a court case?" Fair question from the man who works hard for his pennies! I know we are all upbeat and positive as we wrestle the big boys out of our hard earned cash but some facts and figures would be nice?? Can anyone help please?

[gizmo111]

After having spent months chasing 6 years of bank statements, writing letters, compiling spreadsheets and calculating interest, I am now in a situation whereby I can proceed with my court claim. My problem now is one sceptical if slightly cautious husband who has baulked somewhat at my asking of £250 court fees (Crimbo round the corner and a baby who needs all sorts). He has followed the charges recovery process with me carefully but has raised the question "has anybody actually lost a court case?" Fair question from the man who works hard for his pennies! I know we are all upbeat and positive as we wrestle the big boys out of our hard earned cash but some facts and figures would be nice?? Can anyone help please?

 

One person lost against NW - but he was not prepared for the case and it was before CAG was set up. The way I see it if your claim is valid and properly prepared it doesn't matter if it is £5, £5k or £50k as there is no way the banks wil lgo into a court and disclose their charges. You might have a harder battle as the staked increase - and I cannot say you will not lose cos that is always a possibility in any litigation - but hte chances of you losing are miniscule as no one has yet.

 

Good Luck

 

Oh and tell hubby that his £250 will be well invested and baby will get lots of thing s soon - and next xmas will be fantastic.

[The cobbett slayer]

Might be worth checking if you can get a fee exemption. If you or your hubby are claiming BOTH Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit you fill in form EX160 available on line and you don't have to pay the fees.

[Aitchj]

Thanks to both of you for your replies. I certainly didn't want to appear negative in asking the question in the first place - maybe had a touch of the heeby jeebies and was looking for some reassurance. Feel confident to proceed now. Thanks again

[Aitchj]

The interest accrued on my claim of penalty charges of around £4900, calculates to around £5,600. Can I still process my claim through the small claims court? Can anyone tell me please whether the claim in it's entirety needs to be under £5k or whether 8% interest and in fact the interest incurred on penalties charged remains separate? I do not really want to expose myself to the potentially high court fees of fast track - I'll stay in my comfort zone of £100 small claim fee I think! Many thanks

[Michael Browne]

Only your charges are taken into consideration for allocation to the small claims track, but if charges + interest are over £5000 the court fee is £250 plus a later allocation fee of £100 for claims over £1500

[Aitchj]

Surely if I pay £250 my case will be fast tracked and exposed to the additional charges which I am trying to avoid - including Natwests court fees if I lose?

[Michael Browne]

No, because just your charges are below £5000 therefore small claims track. Interest takes it over £5000, therefore court fees would be £250.

[Aitchj]

Ok, I'll trust you on this one! There seems to be a lot of confusion about this subject, and a lot of opinion, but when you get to the stage of taking your bank to court, facts are imperative aren't they? Many thanks for your help.

[Michael Browne]

Phone your local County court or MCOL helpline for confirmation

[Hillsey]

My claim is for £4,700. Interest is another £1,100. I have filed my claim via MCOL. Cost me £250. I now have an Allocation Questionaire which says that I need to pay a further £100 as my claim is over £1,500.

 

Keep the faith, you will get it all back!

[kateandpete]

Don't be scared of getting allocated to fast track. I did on a claim of £2131 + interest = £3708.

It actually worked in my favour. I asked for standard disclosure in my AQ - this is probably why he allocated me to fast track - it's obligatory in fast track. Standard disclosure means that the bank have to reveal their costs. They will NOT do this and will fold when they hear it. I got my money faster.

 

Even in fast track you won't end up being liable for thousands. There is a cost limit of around £700. But the procedure is so well tested now I see no reason to be scared of fast track.