Barclays Business claim please advise

Johnnyboy34

Hi to all,
I posted my first letter to Barclays last week looking to claim back £1648.00 in account control fees and unpaid cheque charges, i also included £626.76 in interest they charged me over a four year period, can i claim for that?
I recieved a letter back stating all the charges are in the terms and conditions etc when i opened the account and i couldnt have my money.
Should i take off the interest they charged me in my reply letter and include the 8% compound interest on the £1648 which comes to over £400 anyway?
Most gratefull for any advice. Regards Jon

Larumbelle

No experience of business accounts but it sounds like you've got the standard Barclays letter that they always send.
I assume that the 'interest' you refer to is the contractual interest you paid accumulated from the fees. I would leave this in.
I would add the statutory interest as well, just to let them know you mean business, but settle for the fees + contractual interest if they make an offer.

Make sure you've done your sums right. You can't claim for ALL of the interest they have charged you, only that relating to the fees they have charged you .

Johnnyboy34

If i still send the letter in with the interest as mentioned and the said interest isnt just for the fees will it get me in hot water or will they just discount it?
thanks jon

Larumbelle

Well, that all depends whether you claim ALL of the interest in court or not...

I suppose in the letter it might be leverage if you want to settle, i.e they might offer fees minus interest. Oficially, if the bank doesn't accept your version of the interest charges, it has to come up with a better way of calculating it.

I would say that they're far more likely to defend the claim if you do this. After all, they are perfectly entitled to charge interest if you owe them money that hasn't stemmed from charges. Interest on everything isn't really an issue. In theory your case might be even be dismissed on this basis.

My gut feeling would be, much as it would be nice to take them to the cleaners, play safe and only take what they have WRONGLY taken from you.