Halifax/ Bank of Scotland: a guide to account changes.

Icesaver

dingdong1984 wrote: »

Currently have a HICA, which i will now be debiting with over £1000 per month - question is when I ask them to switch from the HICA will they do it without fuss?

Did it tonight, Told them I'd got my letter re HICA closing and as I pay in £1000 a month I feel I'd be better off converting to the reward account. No attempt was made to upsell to the Ultimate reward.

Icesaver

lemonjelly wrote: »

I have the HICA. I opened 3 reward accounts too. Will I be able to upgrade my HICA to another reward account? Or will I fall foul of the no more than 3 rewards line?

I'm in the same position. I have one Halifax reward account, One Halifax HICA and two BOS reward accounts. I phoned this evening to convert my HICA to reward account. I was told the account had been converted and will show up on internet banking as reward account from tomorrow. I wasn't told it couldn't be converted as I already have three reward accounts. Not sure if the fact that two are with BOS and one with Halifax makes a difference, but I won't be surprised if they come back and ask me to close one of the accounts!

jambosans

Icesaver wrote: »

Not sure if the fact that two are with BOS and one with Halifax makes a difference, but I won't be surprised if they come back and ask me to close one of the accounts!

The brand doesn't make a difference, Halifax operate under Bank of Scotland plc's banking license, so they are the same bank. The most likely reason is the advisor simply did not check your other accounts. I would imagine if they do start thoroughly policing this new two account (one sole, one joint) policy, they will merely downgrade the account. Closure is a bit extreme, considering they have allowed it to happen.

Icesaver

jambosans wrote: »

The brand doesn't make a difference, Halifax operate under Bank of Scotland plc's banking license, so they are the same bank. The most likely reason is the advisor simply did not check your other accounts. I would imagine if they do start thoroughly policing this new two account (one sole, one joint) policy, they will merely downgrade the account. Closure is a bit extreme, considering they have allowed it to happen.

I realise they are both operating under same licence and indeed both Halifax and BOS are visible on same internet banking site. However one could argue that the Halifax T&C's only mention HALIFAX reward accounts not both and Similarly BOS T&C'S only mention BOS accounts not a mixture of both.

Does anyone have have three accounts from Halifax and three from BOS?

Incidentally I checked accounts this morning and the HICA now showing as reward account so at the moment I have two Halifax and two BOS reward accounts, but for how long????

noh

Icesaver wrote: »

I realise they are both operating under same licence and indeed both Halifax and BOS are visible on same internet banking site. However one could argue that the Halifax T&C's only mention HALIFAX reward accounts not both and Similarly BOS T&C'S only mention BOS accounts not a mixture of both.

Does anyone have have three accounts from Halifax and three from BOS?

Incidentally I checked accounts this morning and the HICA now showing as reward account so at the moment I have two Halifax and two BOS reward accounts, but for how long????

Read from post 703 on this thread
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1475183&highlight=halifax+reward&page=36

to see what happened to some of those with 3 Halifax and 3 BOS reward accounts.

yorkshirekev

Personally this is going to cost me money. I currently owe 4k to Halifax cc and 1250 on overdraft. The interest on the overdraft is roughly about £16. Now it will be £30. However paying my cc off slower will cost more money, so effectively Halifax have clawed £14 a month extra out of me until I have cleared my affairs (probably in the spring)

They are a clever bunch and are relying on inertia to bring in the readies.

woohoo

I agree!! My dilemma is the same. I have 2 high interest current accounts in my name (one for bills and one for me!) and a joint account (same type). My 2 accounts never (well rarely) go OD, but the joint account which my husband uses is always OD!! We pay £10-£12 in charges for that but now will be £30. I like having the 3 accounts altogether on internet banking as it is easier to see whats what. I am thinking of moving to Abbey? Does anyone know that if both me and hubby open an account with Abbey (for the £100 free), whether the one in hubbys name could be changed to a joint account in a few months? Do they allow that? I would then need another current account with them for bills (obviously wouldn't be able to claim £100 again - unfortunately!!). I would open an A&L but there is no branch near us, and I regularly need to pay cash in. I really could do without this hassle to be honest.

Headieboy

rb10 wrote: »

There is one other change - which is that uncleared cheques will be used to off-set any overdraft charges from the moment that they are paid in, rather than after 2 working days, as is standard at the moment with Halifax & most other banks.

Bank of Scotland used to do this before they 'merged' with Halifax. It saved me from a few excess overdraft charges over the years.

Looking at the guide originally posted, I think it looks like I'll be better off with the U.R.C.A. (which I've avoided up to now as it doesn't offer me anything I couldn't get cheaper elsewhere). I currently have a H.I.C.A. which I only changed to a couple of years back. My salary is over 2k per month, my arranged overdraft is £200 and I usually go into the overdraft around the 14th of each month. I suppose I can cancel my AA breakdown cover now and save myself the £90+ I pay every year.

Icesaver

noh wrote: »

Read from post 703 on this thread
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1475183&highlight=halifax+reward&page=36

to see what happened to some of those with 3 Halifax and 3 BOS reward accounts.

So I better close one in case they don't give a choice of which they close? Be a pain having to move the direct debits off my old HICA if they decide to close that one.

yxes

I would have to say I completely disagree with this change in overdraft fees. I am a very irregular user of the £100 overdraft facilitity on my halifax account and therefore incur no charges mostly, but if I spend £1 in overdraft for 31 days, that is a fee of £31 (an extreme, but possible). A horrendous equivilant interest rate. I have checked against my natwest current account where I pay no fees and have a large overdraft available where I spent (previously) an entire month in overdraft between -£300 and -£1700 and was charged less than £20. This was two years ago with a interest rate most likely higher than the current ones.

I personally think this is their way of clawing back the loss of 'income' gained from unfair and excessive unauthorised overdraft fees. I will definitely be closing this account asap and returning to natwest.