£100 for joining Alliance + Leicester

YorkshireBoy

The account had to be funded within 11 weeks of account opening.

The £100 will be paid within 15 weeks of account opening.

Both timescales given earlier in this thread.

Maybe 15-11 is where 'princess-of-plastic's' 4 week figure comes from?

ray123

With the overdraft, it is 0% for 12 months. Could someone clarify an overdraft for me. For example, if I have a limit of 2k, can I simply transer £2000 into another account and pay it back into the account on the 12th month without incurring charges for interest, etc?
Also, will they match my overdraft in a current account that I am not transferring to them - I have upto 7.5k available for that account!

princess-of-plastic

hi, i had my overdraft matched. All you do is send them a statement which is less than 3 months old which shows your overdraft limit and they will match it. Yes, they dont charge you any interest or anything for the 1st 12 months then after that there is an overdraft usage fee of 50p per day you use the overdraft.

pop x

YorkshireBoy

They matched £10K for me (which is currently making me 7% AER in a Halifax fixed rate websaver ), but not without a fight.

They'd initially only give me £5K for a £500 monthly credit. They only lifted it to £10K when I agreed to pay in a larger monthly amount. No problem...I just pay it in and withdraw it immediately.

And yes, there are no fees/interest in the first year. From year 2 onwards (and assuming Santander don't change things), the daily charge for overdraft usage is 50p, with a maximum £5 per month.

If I could give you one tip, get the £7.5K with your other bank increased before asking A&L to match it.

purplestar133

I went into an A&L branch a week or so ago to give them a bank statement so they would match my overdraft with Lloyds tsb. The overdraft is now showing on my account :j but I haven't received a letter or any confirmation that they have given me an overdraft. Can I start spending it? Will I get a letter and, if so, should I wait for it?

Also, can I add new Direct Debits straight to my new A&L account (e.g. between my old current acct and the A&L one) even though they still haven't transferred my DDs and SOs via the switching service?

One more thing - does anyone know if they will write to inform you of the end of the 0% rate for the overdraft?

YorkshireBoy

purplestar133 wrote: »

Can I start spending it?

If it forms part of your "available balance", yes.

Will I get a letter and, if so, should I wait for it?

Yes, and it's up to you (I did).

Also, can I add new Direct Debits straight to my new A&L account (e.g. between my old current acct and the A&L one)

I assume you mean Standing Orders? Either way, you don't have to wait for them to complete the switch.

One more thing - does anyone know if they will write to inform you of the end of the 0% rate for the overdraft?

I wouldn't have thought so. Anyway, if they don't and you forget yourself, the worst case scenario is a £5 per month charge (unless they change the T&C's in the interim now that they're part of Santander?).

patriciat72

I switched current accounts after being 25 years with Natwest only to be informed I don't qualify for the £100 as it was the wrong account. I was not a happy bunny as I followed Martin's suggestion to the letter to switch at the time and still didn't qualify. I just don't get it.

taxi73

Which account did you switch to?....it was for the premier current account as far as I'm aware not the premier direct one but I still haven't received mine either.

patriciat72

It was the premier direct current account. What was the one to open to qualify and what is the difference? Its too late now, they have completed the process and it was only by chance I spoke to Customer Serivices at A&L and they told me I had opened my account mid June and the offer started in July through to end of September! I was really put out admittedly. I will keep a look out for another offer to switch in the future.

Baldur

patriciat72 wrote: »

It was the premier direct current account. What was the one to open to qualify and what is the difference?

The Premier Direct didn't qualify for the £100, it was only applicable to the Premier account. You can see the difference between the two on the A&L website http://www.alliance-leicester.co.uk/current-accounts/index.aspx?ct=primarynav