bank charges query, help!!

cathybird

hi there all, hoping someone can help with my query. I want to claim back some bank charges from Barclays over the time I had an account with them, which is 2002-2003. The charges (for going over my overdraft limit) come to £320. I've tried to calculate the interest I was charged on these as well and have carefully looked through the statements they sent me. As far as I can see the interest over that whole period is only about £2.70. I was usually in the red by about £50-70 for that whole period, so some of the interest will relate to that. Does this tiny amount of interest sound right, or am I missing something or going mad? Also, & this is the real question, is it really worth trying to claim any of this interest back? If I don't though and simply claim the basic £320 will I look naive/stupid for not claiming the interest ie will it make it harder to get my money back?

any replies appreciated...

terriblesaver

At 8% the interest is £25.60 on that amount hun

yung

I am not sure if you can claim interest but have you tried the other forum where you might get more answer and support

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/

shayshay

You only claim the interest at the end, prior to that dont mention interest at all just send your prelim letter and then LBA.

saubryn

I second the recommendation for the consumeractiongroup site - in fact if you join up over there theres a spreadsheet that will help you work out the interest properly, along with a ton of advice on how to proceed with your claim, and when the right time to start mentioning the interest is.

fruitycar

the interest on your account will be authorised overdraft interest. What you can claim back is unauthorised overdraft interest, which is usually something horrendous like 28%. If you have to pursue your claim to the court stage, then you can add on 8% statutary interest.

Oh yes and go to https://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk loads of information, letter templates and help there.

cathybird

sorry, I thought I'd said in my original post that I'd tried to calculate the interest using the spreadsheets found on the consumer action website, but must have edited that bit out before I posted .... but I will ask them as well, good suggestion. There are loads of DFWs who've claimed bank charges back so I thought someone here might know the answer as well ...

oakdale_minx

Is this the 8% you are calculating before entering a court claim (after sending the prelim letter and the lba letter)? If so, then the amount is wrong. One of my claims is for £375 and from 2002/2003 ish and the interest is a shade over £100. The spreadsheet will calculate from the day the charge was incurred - important you put the date in the charge was put on your spreadsheet.

cathybird

oakdale_minx wrote:

Is this the 8% you are calculating before entering a court claim (after sending the prelim letter and the lba letter)? If so, then the amount is wrong. One of my claims is for £375 and from 2002/2003 ish and the interest is a shade over £100. The spreadsheet will calculate from the day the charge was incurred - important you put the date in the charge was put on your spreadsheet.

hi oakdale minx, thanks for asking, no, it's not 8 per cent, that can only be claimed if it all goes to court. It's just the ordinary interest charged for using the overdraft. The charges were for going over the authorised overdraft limit of £100 and there will have been interest charged on the charges, as it were, but it's only small, particularly because I closed the account in 2003. The interest figure that I have is just from going through the statements and seeing what they charged me over that period.