Halifax Reward Current Account - use R85

7891368

AnonymousForObviousReason wrote: »

That'll teach me to ignore MSE for a year so. Thanks for your prompt reply.

Halifax changed the amounts available per customer, previous to this people were able to open and still hold more than 2 (one in sole name, one in joint). In a similar to the way Lloyds Vantage accounts are now capped when they were not before.

tobiascurious

jennifernil wrote: »

That is a rather blinkered attitude!

But possibly it explains why Halifax don't let people complete an R85.

They probably intend that this account is used as a main current account by people earning salary/pension rather than moving money between accounts just to earn the £5

SallyBarringtonWilliams

noh wrote: »

HBOS now only allow one sole and one joint account per customer.
There is no minimum time that the money needs to be in the account all that is required, to earn the £5 reward, is that a minimum of £1000 is deposited per month. You can withdraw it immediately.

Noh i hope you dont mind me jumping in on this thread but i personally have 4 halifax accounts (2 urcas and 2 rewards) the hubby has 3 (1 urca 2 rewards),we dont have joint accounts, at our last financial review with them they never mentioned this and i am aware that customers are only supposed to have one sole and one joint, i have had the 2 current accounts for many years which were converted when it changed to reward.

They have never mentioned anything about this limit on number of accounts to us.


Sally

noh

SallyBarringtonWilliams wrote: »

Noh i hope you dont mind me jumping in on this thread but i personally have 4 halifax accounts (2 urcas and 2 rewards) the hubby has 3 (1 urca 2 rewards),we dont have joint accounts, at our last financial review with them they never mentioned this and i am aware that customers are only supposed to have one sole and one joint, i have had the 2 current accounts for many years which were converted when it changed to reward.

They have never mentioned anything about this limit on number of accounts to us.


Sally

The T+Cs changed in November last year.
If your Reward accounts were opened prior to that then there is no problem. The previous limit was 3 Reward accounts per person but several people have reported having 4 as you have.
The limit of one sole and one joint applies to Reward accounts opened after the change in T+Cs.
The current T+Cs are here http://www.halifax.co.uk/bankaccounts/pdf/Halifax-Reward-Terms-and-Conditions.pdf
The relevant paragraph is section 2b on page 14.

jambosans

SallyBarringtonWilliams wrote: »

i personally have 4 halifax accounts (2 urcas and 2 rewards) the hubby has 3 (1 urca 2 rewards)

Why do you and your husband have three URCA's between you? One joint URCA would do the job of all three and save you a bundle. What a waste of money.

rb10

tobiascurious wrote: »

But possibly it explains why Halifax don't let people complete an R85.

No, because they allowed you to complete an R85 on the old High Interest Current Account (which preceded the Reward Current Account). This one had the same criteria of having to pay in £1k per month.

LittleVoice

rb10 wrote: »

No, because they allowed you to complete an R85 on the old High Interest Current Account (which preceded the Reward Current Account). This one had the same criteria of having to pay in £1k per month.

But then again interest was earned from the balance in the account - no balance, no interest - so it encouraged people to leave their money in the current account. The Reward account virtually encourages people to move their money in and out in a flash.

opinions4u

tobiascurious wrote: »

But possibly it explains why Halifax don't let people complete an R85.

They probably intend that this account is used as a main current account by people earning salary/pension rather than moving money between accounts just to earn the £5

The two matters are entirely unconnected.

Firstly, Haifax quite clearly want people to have their main bank account with them. The £5 reward concept reels them in.

While they doubtless get hit by a fair number of people who simply move money in to and out of the account to generate a fiver, they have presumably accepted that this will happen, and it's a price worth paying to generate the business levels of "proper" accounts that they want.

The R85 issue is entirely down to complying with HMRC rules. The Reward account pays no interest. So you cannot register an R85 to have interest paid gross. The £5 Reward isn't interest, it's seen as another form of income where HMRC do not authorise banks to pay interest gross. So the method outlined on the Halifax web site (R40 form from memory) covers things off.

tobiascurious

opinions4u wrote: »

The R85 issue is entirely down to complying with HMRC rules. The Reward account pays no interest. So you cannot register an R85 to have interest paid gross. The £5 Reward isn't interest, it's seen as another form of income where HMRC do not authorise banks to pay interest gross. So the method outlined on the Halifax web site (R40 form from memory) covers things off.

Thanks for this. Does this mean that for someone who has to do a self assessment tax return that this "income" will not go under "interest from savings"? Would it go under "other income"?

glider3560

I asked my tax office where to put the "reward" on the R40 form - they said to put it under interest.