Basic Bank Account

stuart264

I am currently having problems getting a basic bank account. To cut a very long story short I ran up £30,000 worth of debts paying lawyers to try to get contact with my children.
Through a lot of hard work and scrimping I managed to clear it down to approx £17K then I ended up getting Clostridium Difficile and I am basically disabled and down from a £40K salary to £70.20 a week Incapacity Benfit.

Through an agreement HSBC have suspended my accounts with them and my day to day living is through a building society deposit account but I need to be able to set up a couple of direct debits mainly to cover my Internet charges as being disabled now the net really is my "lifeline" and phone bill and I wouldnt mind being able to switch to an "all in one" provider but they only seem to accept customers on Direct Debit.

The buildiing society I have my deposit account with just declined me an account with DD Facility, not because of my nailed credit rating as they understand the situation but because I have a non usuable account with another bank.

All I want is an account that lets me use DD. Dont care with who or what I just want to be able to keep my lines of communication open and if anyone knows of anything suitable please tell me.

Stuart

P.S. I do have an e-mail from Talk Talk's customer service unit giving me an 0870 number to call and set up a paper billing account but its either engaged or the person answering the phone deny's all knowledge that they do accounts off Direct Debit and considering getting that far has put £3.50 worth of 0870 charges on my phone bill then I am not going to push that any further.

clayts

Nat West Step account - apply online, account set up within about 2 weeks

Or https://www.nationwide.co.uk (FlexAccount)

tru

I applied online for the NatWest step account on 4th July, had a letter today saying the account is open. 7 days - not bad

gt94sss2

Have a look at http://www.fsa.gov.uk/consumer/pdfs/bank_account.pdf for a list of providers who offer basic bank accounts

Regards
Sunil

inmypocketnottheirs

Also try Norwich and Peterborough Building Society. They do a current account https://www.npbs.co.uk If you get rejected for the net gold account with £500 overdraft and Visa debit/guarantee card, they will offer you a current account with cheque book and cash card. Standing orders and direct debits too.

Best of luck

stuart264

Well its Nationwide I am talking with at the moment but that FSA Document is interesting.......it says that Nationwide only decline on a history of fraud thats very different to what they told me on the phone earlier........Still going through that list from the FSA if Nationwide dont change their mind then I will start ringing a few on that list.

Natwest I banked with nearly 16 years ago and wouldnt touch with a barge pole as I changed banks after they yanked my overdraft and credit card facilities with no notice (along with quite a few other members of staff) on the grounds that the firm I worked for wasnt going to get a big payment on time and therefore would run the payroll late and yes I know they are not supposed to do things like that and the branch manager responsible got his !!!!!! kicked but that was 6 months later following a "class action" compaint to the the Banking Ombudsman.

Norwich and Peterborough Building Society dont have a branch within miles of here so I will leave that one on the back burner.

inmypocketnottheirs

stuart264 wrote:

Norwich and Peterborough Building Society dont have a branch within miles of here so I will leave that one on the back burner.

They don't for me either, but it is all internet based, with the exception of paying cheques in I guess. Can't remember the last time I did that, I suppose they could be posted.

Just thought it might be useful if you needed a cheque book.

stuart264

Well had a long conversation this morning with Nationwide its not my credit rating its the fact that I have a non-usuable account with HSBC.

Whats really annoyed me is that they told me that if I had not ticked the box on the form and declared another bank account they would have never have checked and opened me an account straight away...Stuffed by my own honesty is not a thing I like to hear.

They are confirming this all in writing and have suggested if i want to take it further I can by writing to the Chief Exec. Which I might do mainly because I think its pretty appalling treatment by a B/S that advertises going the extra mile and pokes fun at other banks "policies".....