Hi Frankie B I didn't quite understand it at first as we have an overdraft on our account which we are constantly using, so I was concerned about working out the interest etc. However, after much deliberation I decided to claim for compounded contractual interest on the charges only (not on any interest charges) this is 24.9% which is NW current unauthorised borrowing charge. If you intend to go down this route please look into properly so you fully understand what you are actually claiming. By doing this you cannot claim the 8% at court stage but it does make a huge difference. From our original claim of £2,200 over a six year period, it takes it to an astonishing £4,300 - have a good think about what route to go down but make sure you are comfortable with your decision. You can then tell them of your intentions from the beginning in your prelim letter. If you want to go down this road, let us know and between us we can point you in the right direction - good luck

me too - sarahdactyly and debt mountain - I've not heard a sausage from NW for either prelim letters x2 and LBAs x2 - at least I know I'm not alone - tick tock....

Unless they pay up in full by the 28th - LBA it is then!

MBNA have been taken over by Bank of America (plus MBNA stands for Maryland Bank of North America - no I'm not a geek I used to work there!) so I don't think it makes any difference on your SAR. Send it to - MBNA Europe Bank Ltd, Stansfield House, Chester Business Park, Chester, Cheshire CH4 9QQ - remember to enclose your cheque for £10 and send it by recorded delivery. Good luck! I playing the waiting game... my SAR was sent last week and they have until the 12 Oct to send me the info.

Congratulations! Wow - 10 days from MCOL. I sent my LBAs today so just playing the waiting game. I hope you meet your deadline of Nov 06 - good luck!

SNAP! My LBAs went today as well for two accounts - fingers crossed - I'm claiming the charges plus compounded contractual interest at 24.9%. As far as I am aware you can adjust the amount you are claiming once the money has been taken from your account, so when filing your court papers (MCOL) in 14 days time you can add the extra costs in then - good luck and keep us posted

Me too Suzy - I've not heard a sausage from NW from my prelim letter which they received on 7th Sept so I'm sending my LBA out today, then waiting another 14 days till MCOL...

to be honest bill-k, I didn't understand applying the compound interest onto the 'complex' spreadsheets so I've decided just to use Vampiress spreadsheet (SIMPLE VERSION - Throughout claim with compounded contractual interest) as I could get my head around that one - it certainly makes a difference - fingers crossed I've got my sums right - I've also changed some of the wording on my LBAs to incorporate the new amount which Dolly has checked over - she's a star!

LBAs going out in the post tonight with compounded contractual interest on penalty charges, then the clock begins again...

thanks Dolly, LBAs are ready to roll and going out in the post tonight - tee hee...

Hi Isiris - I don't mind at all however I'm not at your stage yet - I know some people on here have been advising caution on changing at later stages (so as not to appear greedy to the courts) - love to help you out but I'm afraid I'm not sure of the process once MCOL has been issued.

Hi everyone - I've been reading the debate regarding compounded contractual interest with great interest and the case of taylormandy who successfully claimed this back with NW - in light of this I have decided to claim this back also and have spent the last few days reading up as much as possible to try and get my head around it. I orginally sent my prelim letter on 6 Sept claiming charges and interest only on two accounts, to which I've not heard a sausage back from NW. I came to the figures below using the complex spreadsheets in the templates library. Acc1 = £1,221.50 in charges + £49.81 interest on penalties = £1271.31 total Acc2 = £970.00 in charges + £65.76 interest on penalties = £1035.76 total However, I am just about to send my LBA but would like to claim compounded contractual interest on my charges only (not the interest as quite frankly I can't get my head around it at all - but this bit I do understand:)) I've worked through the figures using Vampiress google spreadsheets (thanks vamp) and have now come to the following conclusion Acc1 = £1,221.50 in charges + £1,135.40 compounded contractual interest on penalties (24.9%) = £2,356.90 total Acc2 = £970.00 in charges + £971.17 compounded contractual interest on penalties (24.9%) = £1,941.17 total I'm sending out my LBA and I want to change the amount I'm claiming from my premim letter to take the the new figures. Has anyone any suggestions on what I should add to my LBA letter? I'm thinking along the lines of - " since my previous letter I now understand that the principle of mutuality, or reciprocity, applies to the aforementioned contract and will be claiming back compounded contractual interest on these charges" Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I've spent the last few days knee deep in spreadsheets.

Thanks B I'm not a complete novice when it comes to spreadsheets so I kinda get where you're coming from with the formulas, I've PM'd Dolly who is taking a quick look at it for me and she not too sure about it so I'm going to try and work through your formulas above - thanks for the info as aways

Hi Guys - back again - I've been catching up on taylormandy as dolly recommended and rather than work through vampiress google spreadsheet - she just changed the % amount in the simple spreadsheet Re: A New Way of Looking at Interest- 1st successful Claim - N'wide by taylormandy - sorry not sure how you can link to other threads. Anybody know what the current unauthorised interest rate is for a flex account with NW?

Thanks bill-k and dolly, I'm going to go through the spreadsheets again to double check everything is correct in the figures then I'll PM you both (once I've worked out how to do it!) - thanks guys - I'm feeling braver already...

thanks Dolly for the quick reply I'm not too sure that my figures are correct though when I'm inputting the information - the figure seems way too high - sorry to be such a pain but is there anybody out there who could take a look at my spreadsheet? I think that I'm charging contractual interest on an authorised overdraft amount. I'm due to send my LBAs out tomorrow and would want all the info to tie in together.

Arrghhh - right! Got that out of my system I have finally come to an 'executive' decision after much deliberation and messing about with various spreadsheets. I have tried to use both the wonderful vampiress spreadsheets on google and I've also taken a look at Mindzai's spreadsheet and inputted all my details and I have to admit it makes no sense at all I've read and read and read loads of threads on this whole site (I think I need to go to CAG annoymous as I'm always on it) the spreadsheet that makes perfect sense to me is the 8% simple interest. The problem I have been encountering is because the hubby and I live on our authorised overdrafts it is difficult to work out what amount I can charge contractual interest on. Therefore if I am ever the one who has to go to court I know that I understand the basis of my court action and the reasoning behind the 8%. My argument for being a thicko when it comes to figures is the creative job I am in and I use the other side of my brain.... I have to admit when the spreadsheets began showing figures of about 17K I thought - hhhmmm - maybe not. Sorry guys I'm too much of a wimp but I applaud each and every one of you who is going for it - I'm so rooting for Mindzai and Lucid - see there post regarding LTSB. Sending my LBA out tomorrow - still no word from NW regarding my prelim - but hey - Not bovvered!

Hi Gary29 - going from your details I'm about 2 days in front of you - I sent my prelim letters out on 6th Sept but as yet have heard nothing from NW (not bovvered!) - I've prepared my LBAs on both accounts and I'm just waiting to reprint out the charges spreadsheets for Thurs post - sorting my parachute account out on Saturday - must admit I'm feeling a tad nervous!

wow bill-k you're keeping busy! good for you keep us updated on your progress, UKAviator, I'm about to download the new vampiress spreadsheets and go from there. I'm not too sure why I was unable to download Mindzai's spreadsheet - not sure whether it's because I'm using an apple mac instead of pc... Off to do my inputting now.. I may be some time...

Thanks Dolly, Thanks bill-k, I've just spent a considerable amount of time reading through the "A New Way of Looking at Interest" thread and I have to say my head really hurts! It really has boiled my brain! I'm still unsure as to which way to go, at the beginning of this exercise I was content with just claiming back my charges and accepting the 8% interest from the courts as a bonus! (If I were to win of course...) but now I'm not so sure. Unfortunately, I've been unable to download Mindzai's spreadsheet for compound interest so not sure what the difference is likely to be although our claims do go back a full 6 years. I am going to give this some real thought over the next few days to be really sure as to the basis of claim against NW - I have to wait until the 21 Sept to send my LBAs - but I feel I may go down the 8% route (as I'm a bit of a wuss!) and follow the tried and tested method - unfortunately, as we are always using our authorised overdraft it just confuses the whole matter - to me anyway! bill-k how are you progressing? what stages are you up to?

Hi Bill Thanks so much for the reply. You're right! It is SO hard to work out. What I actually ended up doing was inputting the info into the complex charges spreadsheet and I think that worked things out for me, but you're completely right as I don't think it worked out to much at all. I've been all over the site - which is just brilliant - reading hundreds of threads to try and get up to speed on what I am doing. I sent out my initial prelim letters (x2) to Charles Bacon by recorded delivery on the 6 Sept and am now waiting for my 'yeah, whatever, get lost' letter, if I haven't received this (or when I do) I take it I send out my LBA on 21 Sept? All in all I'm claiming over two accounts which tots up to an amazing £2,300 (without the 8%) I knew me and the hubby were bad but I'm shocked it is so much. We are also in the process of opening some parachute accounts too. I think I am playing the waiting game at the moment - but like everyone else I'm convinced we'll by the first who have to go to court! Thanks for the support - will keep you posted!

Hi everyone This is my first posting, what a great site... We currently have two nationwide accounts which we have held for over 6 years, both accounts have an authorised overdrafts on each £1,000 on one and £2,000 on another. We generally live off our overdrafts (yikes, I know!). We have sent off and received all the information from Nationwide regarding our charges and I'm now working through them and inputting the information onto the wonderful spreadsheets - the question is... how can I work out how much is 'authorised' interest charges and how much is 'unauthorised' interest charges? I'm about to send off our first letter about the charges (the one before LBA) but want to get my figures correct. We are currently in the process of opening another bank account and moving our meagre savings into another bank account - all thanks to this site - I really don't think I would have had the balls to do this without everyones help - so a big thank you. Any suggestions anyone?