Joint Account advice

henderson1977

Hi all - this is my 1st post on the MSE Forum. I have enjoyed reading many peoples' views and advice so far, this is an excellent forum. My query is:-

I need to setup a joint account with my partner which we will use to pay our mortgage. We setup a Joint Savings Account with ING Direct for their high interest rate, only to find that we cannot create a direct debit to pay the mortgage, because direct debits are not permitted.

1) Please confirm that a Joint Savings Account cannot be used to create a direct debit to pay the mortgage.
2) If true, is our only option to open a Joint Current Account? Or are there other types of accounts that are valid for our purposes?
3) If our only option is a Joint Current Account, what is the best (Joint) Current Account on the market?

Any of the following?:

1ST CHOICE> Lloyds TSB’s Classic Plus account pays 4% interest on the first £5,000 in the account (0.1% above that) and also gives new sign-ups a cool £50. To be eligible for the interest rate, and the bonus, you have to bank with them and pay in £1,000 a month. I'm not sure whether we can create a joint account because there was no option when we did a 'dry-run', anyone know any different?

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2ND CHOICE> Citibank Direct (minimum annual income £15k) pays 4.07% on everything in the account although it has no overdraft facility. Any limitations/caveats on this account?

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3RD CHOICE> SMILE.co.uk - Joint current account with Smile (https://www.smile.co.uk). If you create the account by December 10th and pay in £1500 you get a case of 12 bottles of wine (you can then take the money out). At 3.3%, it's not the best interest rate, but the wine offer is tempting.

Are there any limitations or issues with any of the above accounts?

4) Would we have to transfer our existing HSBC Current Accounts to the new Joint Current Account?

Thanks in advance.

Scott

grumbler

henderson1977 wrote:

1) Please confirm that a Joint Savings Account cannot be used to create a direct debit to pay the mortgage.
2) If true, is our only option to open a Joint Current Account? Or are there other types of accounts that are valid for our purposes?

Generally speaking yes. The only exception I know is Halifax Web Saver (see 5.3 of terms and conditions.) I never tried to do this ...

3)...what is the best (Joint) Current Account on the market?

You list of accounts is quite good. The only missing is A&L with 5%. See Best Current Account article. In fact all these accounts have internet access and it is not necessary to have a joint account just for mortgage payments. You can manage with single account(s). If you open two single accounts with A&L instead of joint one you can get £150 incentive instead of £50: Bag £100s in free cash from current accounts. For Citibank see Get 60 GBP for opening citibank accnt .

Are there any limitations or issues with any of the above accounts?

I am not aware of any.

4) Would we have to transfer our existing HSBC Current Accounts to the new Joint Current Account?

AFAIK not, although Lloyds TSB insist in transferring salary to them in order to qualifay for incentive.