Spreadsheet with interest

[Guest bong]

I've done a little test on a dummy spreadsheet and worked out that if I change the figure for amount paid in order to leave exactly £180 as my remaining balance (to equate to the penalties charged) it puts the whole amount of the interest charged to interest on penalties. Once I go one pound over this on the amount paid, thus leaving £179 as my remaining balance (and less than the penalties charged), it screws up the interest on penalties figure.

 

You have been very helpful indeed in replying to my messages as you have, and this is not aimed at you personally because I know you are trying to help, and I know it's a free service for which I am extremely grateful, BUT I am a little miffed with the BAG that this query can't be sorted out without me having to have a website, afterall I can't be the only one who paid off more than the penalties charged and has this problem. And it seems there is no way of getting help with this - so where does that leave me now?

[Mindzai]

You don't need your own website, there are many file hosts that you can use for free. Try RapidShare. Browse for the spreadsheet on your PC and click upload, then paste the link in a post.

[Guest bong]

Thanks Mindzai

[thewifeandI]

Having looked at your spreadsheet I can see how it is getting the amount wrong, and can understand how it's getting that figure. What I can't tell yet is how to fix it. If Vamps is around she may come up with a suggestion faster than I can, but I'll keep trying!

[Guest bong]

Thanks Jeep

[pampam]

I am about to complete the Advanced excell spreadsheet for a TSB credit card.

 

Hope some kind person can answer my queries

 

Do I start the claim from the date that the first charge occurred?

 

Then do I put down all payments, interest and balances for every month after that whether there were charges on them or not?

 

Thanks

Pam:mad:

[hatcho]

Hi,

Is there anyone who wouldn't mind taking a look at my excel spread sheet not sure if I have completed it correctly and don't want to look stupid if I send it and its wrong. Let me know?? :o)

[lucid]

Sorry Pam. I did reply with details of using the spreadsheet for bank accounts and then saw that you need advice for the credit card spreadsheet. I've tried looking at it but I don't really understand how it works - probably doesn't help that I've never owned a credit card.

 

Sorry I couldn't help you out, but I'm sure somebody else will reply soon.

[thewifeandI]

Having looked at your spreadsheet I can see how it is getting the amount wrong, and can understand how it's getting that figure. What I can't tell yet is how to fix it. If Vamps is around she may come up with a suggestion faster than I can, but I'll keep trying!

Right - been thinking a bit more on this this and I think it could well be right. According to the sheet you had a large balance and mostly paid it off that month, leaving £124 of debt. By that time the accumulated charges were greater than the new balance, therefore the interest charged that month was entirely due to the charges, and as they were greater than the balance the proportion of interest was greater than 100% if the interest. I think.

 

If the bank challenges the amount ask them to calculate it for you - after all they've got buildings full of expensive computers to work it out!

[pampam]

I am about to complete the Advanced excell spreadsheet for a TSB credit card.

 

Hope some kind person can answer my queries

 

Do I start the claim from the date that the first charge occurred?

 

Then do I put down all payments, interest and balances for every month after that whether there were charges on them or not?

 

Thanks

Pam:mad:

 

Can Someone help me please!!

[thewifeandI]

Start from the month with the first charge. Then enter one line per statement from then until now.

[hatcho]

Hi,

Is there anyone who wouldn't mind taking a look at my excel spread sheet not sure if I have completed it correctly and don't want to look stupid if I send it and its wrong. Let me know?? :o

 

I need help please going mad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Pm me

 

Thanks

[Guest bong]

Right - been thinking a bit more on this this and I think it could well be right. According to the sheet you had a large balance and mostly paid it off that month, leaving £124 of debt. By that time the accumulated charges were greater than the new balance, therefore the interest charged that month was entirely due to the charges, and as they were greater than the balance the proportion of interest was greater than 100% if the interest. I think.

 

If the bank challenges the amount ask them to calculate it for you - after all they've got buildings full of expensive computers to work it out!

 

Thanks Jeep . I understand your thinking but I'm not 100% satisfied that this isn't going to make my claim lose credibility, giving the credit card co. the chance to defend and have my claim thrown out. Not saying you're wrong but I do think we're slightly guessing here and I don't feel comfortable proceeding with a claim that might be flawed. Is there any legal onus on them to come up with calculations of what they owe me?

Is anyone with more knowledge than me able to confirm whether you can claim more than 100% of the interest charged? If not, does the spreadsheet template need to be corrected to put in an argument such as 'only insert 100% of interest charged' ?? Once again, really grateful for your time Jeep.

[matd]

Does my spreadsheet look as if it's entered correctly? Bear in mind that Barclays calculate the interest for the month but take the money from my account the next month. I went back one month and found the highest overdrawn balance for that period.

 

Here's the spreadsheet (I haven't deleted the extraneous repeating charges from the end of the list yet):

 

 

Many thanks.

 

p.s. Haven't entered the "Estimate of previous charges" figure yet. Should I take the average of the charges levied in 2003 then multiply by the number of years from account opening to March 2000?

[Kidson]

Apparently in the UK, AER (also called EAR sometimes) and APR are exactly the same thing.

 

If you wish to understand what APR means have a look at these sights:

 

Annual percentage rate - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

IanSharpe.com - Using Excel to explore Annual Percentage Rate (APR)

[thewifeandI]

Does my spreadsheet look as if it's entered correctly? Bear in mind that Barclays calculate the interest for the month but take the money from my account the next month. I went back one month and found the highest overdrawn balance for that period.

[snip]

p.s. Haven't entered the "Estimate of previous charges" figure yet. Should I take the average of the charges levied in 2003 then multiply by the number of years from account opening to March 2000?

Looks fine. I worked out an estimate for my claim by counting the number of months of missing data and multilplying it by the average number of charges received in a month at the oldest rate charged. I also explained how I had arrived at the estimate and the period it covered, etc. in the LBA letter so that they were completely clear.

[thewifeandI]

Thanks Jeep . I understand your thinking but I'm not 100% satisfied that this isn't going to make my claim lose credibility, giving the credit card co. the chance to defend and have my claim thrown out. Not saying you're wrong but I do think we're slightly guessing here and I don't feel comfortable proceeding with a claim that might be flawed. Is there any legal onus on them to come up with calculations of what they owe me?

Is anyone with more knowledge than me able to confirm whether you can claim more than 100% of the interest charged? If not, does the spreadsheet template need to be corrected to put in an argument such as 'only insert 100% of interest charged' ?? Once again, really grateful for your time Jeep.

I understand your concern. My feeling was that in previous months the proportion was very low, so I don't really think it matters too much in this one month. One option is to overtype the result for that row with the value of the interest for that month. It's the best I can suggest right now.

[superam]

Can somebody show me a way of working out the interest without using a sreadsheet please? I have'nt got this excel thing, i.m a pen'n'paper man myself and can use a calculator, i'm sure theres loads of people out there that wants to know the correct answer to this question. THANKS [email protected]

[Spiceskull]

I have'nt got this excel thing

If you don't have, or don't want Excel, you could always download Open Office (which is completely free) from here.

[matd]

Looks fine. I worked out an estimate for my claim by counting the number of months of missing data and multilplying it by the average number of charges received in a month at the oldest rate charged. I also explained how I had arrived at the estimate and the period it covered, etc. in the LBA letter so that they were completely clear.

 

Thanks very much Jeep - appreciate the advice! As for using the oldest rate, I didn't think that I had to add interest to the estimate figure. To be honest, I have no idea what any older rate might have been.

 

Last thing - this may be a issue with Excel on Apple Mac, but I can't enter a fractional amount for the interest. Everytime I enter 27.9%, Excel rounds it up to 28% when I hit . Any idea how to work around this?

[Spiceskull]

Everytime I enter 27.9%, Excel rounds it up to 28% when I hit . Any idea how to work around this?

You need to format the cell/s so that entries are accepted up to two decimal places...

[matd]

Anyone know how I do this?

[Mindzai]

Right click cell > Format Cells..., then under the 'Number' tab select 'Number' and select 2 (or whatever) decimal places. You wont notice any change in the actual result however because Excel will be using the decimal figure regardless of the formatting.

 

Edit: just noticed you're on a mac, hence no right click! You can get to the cell formatting menu by using the toolbar: Format > Cells...

[jellybabe]

thanks,i also wondered how to do that.

[jellybabe]

hi there, could someone out there please clarify for me the 2 points. i intend to go for contractual rate on one of my cards. I know how to work it out with the spreadsheet.But my "interest on penalties" doesn't change when i enter the 24.8% rate,only the cell with the 8% changes obviously.Now my questions are:

1.which of them do i include in my lba?the "now"24.8% one, or the normal "interest on Penalty" one, or both of them??I don't want to end up claiming interest twice and cocking it all up.

2.when i file my claim......do i tick the "are you claiming the s69 8%, blah blah blah thing?And what exactly should i put as charges and as interest out of the 4 amounts on my spreadsheet??

I know it might sound stupid, i just want to make sure i got it all right.

Thanks for your help in advance.