advice concerning a&l and abbey

junesong

I think I have gotten myself into a bit of a mess.

I have an Abbey graduate account with a £1000 overdraft. I have also just opened an Alliance and Leicester online current account (at the time not realising they had just become part of Santander)
My intention was to switch everything to the A&L account but I didn't check to match my current overdraft. I haven't been given an overdraft, but they said they might be able to match my current overdraft, if that happens would they basically pay off my Abbey overdraft and then I'd go straight into my overdraft at A&L?
Also if I was able to get a loan and pay off my Abbey overdraft, could I downgrade the account to a more basic one?

If I wasn't able to do either of these, what would be my best option? I can't really remember a time when I was in credit, but I do remember having an easier time controlling my finances before Abbey became part of Santander.

I would appreciate any advice!

masonic

Whether they match the overdraft or not, it would be up to you transfer the money to clear your Abbey overdraft if that's what you intended to do. You would not need to do that right away, so if they don't match your current overdraft, you could gradually pay it off and keep the lower overdraft limit at A&L.

If you didn't want to leave Abbey altogether, but did not want to keep that account and overdraft, I can't imagine why they wouldn't allow you to downgrade to a more suitable account.