Transferring overdraft to new account - best steps to take?

jonnywoods

Hi,

My girlfriend is with Halifax and has an OD of £1200. She has just been given a new job with good money, and is hoping to be able to pay that off completely within 4-5 months. I read somewhere about accounts that you can get (Alliance & Leicester I think?) where they will give you a 0% overdraft for 12 months. My question is, can she open one of these accounts, transfer the overdraft from Halifax to A&L, and close her Halifax account? Are A&L likely to offer her a £1200 overdraft straight away??

Another reason for doing this is that Halifax are changing their overdraft procedures, so that for every day she is overdrawn she will now have to pay £1, which more or less doubles her interest rate!!! Nightmare!! Any advice?

YorkshireBoy

jonnywoods wrote: »

...can she open one of these accounts, transfer the overdraft from Halifax to A&L, and close her Halifax account?

If accepted, and given the required overdraft facility, then yes she could use the A&L funds to settle the Halifax overdraft and then close the old account.

However, A&L say that overdraft matching is 'subject to status' and, according to reports on here, often refuse facilities if the documentary evidence (ie the Halifax statement she'll have to send A&L) shows a failure to return the account to credit for x days (used to be 3 days?) per month.

Are A&L likely to offer her a £1200 overdraft straight away??

No-one here can answer that question, or even have a guess (unless you want to tell us all about her personal and financial circumstances?).

Another reason for doing this is that Halifax are changing their overdraft procedures, so that for every day she is overdrawn she will now have to pay £1, which more or less doubles her interest rate!!! Nightmare!! Any advice?

What if A&L adopt the same charging structure between now and the end of the 12 month intro period (you can bet many of them are thinking about it following the bank charges test case)? Has she analysed, and understood, the reasons for the overdraft existing in the first place, in order to prevent recurrence?

rae25_2

We have done this, swithching from halifax to abbey as they too have the free overdraft. They matched a £2000 od although we were only £1000 overdrawn.