Swap to Basic Account?

sgx.saint

Hey All.

I am on a DMP with all my creditors at the moment.

I still have an active standard current account with Halifax which has a £200 overdraft and a Visa Debit Card.

I was wondering whether it was best to keep this account or swap to a basic account in order for me to manage my finances better?

I cant decide what to do. Obviously I will loose out on somethings if I swap, but not sure which way to go.

Any advice appreciated.

sgx.saint

Oh, and does anyone on here have an Alliance and Leicester basic bank account?

If so, how do you rate it?

Can you setup DD/SO? Internet Banking? Also can you withdraw cash from any cash machine?

Couldnt find any info about it on the A&L website.

Cheers

trplumbing

If your Halifax account is giving you free banking then I suggest you keep it, although I would recommend you instruct them to take away your overdraft. The o/d will only make your available balance higher, and hence may make you feel like you have more money than you actually have, and hence will increase the likelihood of you exceeding this limit.

I had a look at Basic Bank Accounts, and they are really only useful if the Halifax were to shut your account and you needed an account for your salary and bills.

A basic account will offer no overdraft which is good if you want to avoid one, but then again you only need to tell your bank to remove your existing o/d. However you will not get a debit card (an Electron or Solo maybe, but their use is very limited) and you may have a low cash machine allowance per day.

You just need to make sure you monitor your spending and bills to the penny so that you dont get into trouble, and your Halifax a/c should be just fine.

PS Im in a fairly similar position, and I have my a/c with First Direct. The things that I would miss are i) the £500 daily limit from ATMs and ii) the Maestro facility. I reduced my o/d to zero recently and I am very happy I did. They, however, are going to start charging customers like me (who dont have many products with them) £10 per month from January 2007 and then I will have to look at another bank account, and if I dont qualify for a decent bank a/c then I will have to get a basic bank account as it will be better than gifting the bank £10 per month.

Hope that helps

sgx.saint

Thanks.

I want to open a basic bank account anyway incase of any future problems I can transfer all my things across to the basic account.

I'm having a bit of trouble doing this.

Co-Op and Nationwide have refused me a basic bank account which is a bit annoying. I only have defaults against my name, no CCJ or Bankruptcy, but still they have declined me.

I have tried Alliance & Leceister today and am waiting to here from them. Only thing is that they dont allow SO on the account. I also have an appointment for Yorkshire Bank which seems to be the next best account.

I just hope I get accepted.

The problem with my Halifax Account is that I am now over my agreed overdraft limit because of a cheque bouncing and Halifax stating that it had cleared then a day later it was reversed. However I took out the money and spent it on bills etc. I am not in the position to pay it back at least for about a monthish. So thats why I want another account open.

I do have a step account with Natwest but as they are owned by RBS and I owe RBS money on my credit card I am very cautions about putting any funds into the account or using it. I may just close the account.

Although in another thread I started a while ago there was a heated discussion as to whether my money would be 'safe' in the Natwest account with confliction opinions on either side.

Gordon_the_Moron

I've never had a basic account as I try to be careful and not incur charges or exceed limits (though I sometimes inadvertently have) I don't know if some/all allow standing orders or direct debits but I thought banks were required to offer a basic account for people that don't qualify for a current account and I didn't think they usually declined people, if so I don't see why.

The fact that card will be electron/solo is a major disadvantage though, a lot of places won't accept it since it doesn't guarantee payment (especially petrol stations for some reason I've noticed) they do work in all cash machines though as far as I know, I had a solo card when I was 16 and the daily limit was £300, I don't know of a Visa with a bigger cash limit per day than that but others may have lower limits. Also a minor detail, I was in a supermarket the other day and the credit card system went down and they were taking card details manually, they can't take solo or electron like that but hardly a major issue I should imagine.

I wouldn't advise cancelling the £200 o/d just try your best not to use it then you won't accidentally slip over it, if you cancel the o/d and go just below £0 you'll get charged like you would for slipping just below £200 o/d

sgx.saint

Well I will have to see how it goes, but as I say, I am already over my agreed overdraft and cant bring it back below the agreed limit for at least a month so I need another account anyway.

I like the look of the Norwich and Peterborough Building Society Basic Bank Account, however I dont have any branch close to me.

Does anyone here bank with them and does not have a branch local to them?

I was wondering can you pay cash/cheques in at the Post Office or at a partner bank? Cant find any details on their website.

Debt_Free_Chick

sgx.saint wrote:

Co-Op and Nationwide have refused me a basic bank account which is a bit annoying. I only have defaults against my name, no CCJ or Bankruptcy, but still they have declined me.

Odd ... did you ask them why? It might be something simple like not being on the electoral roll.

Just about anyone should be able to get a basic bank account and that link has a table showing who won't get one and why.

I would query both these ... something not right, somewhere you should have been offered one.

sgx.saint

Odd ... did you ask them why? It might be something simple like not being on the electoral roll.

Just about anyone should be able to get a basic bank account and that link has a table showing who won't get one and why.

I would query both these ... something not right, somewhere you should have been offered one.

Well thats what I thought, however I have read similar threads on this forum regarding people getting knocked back, especially by Nationwide.

As I say, I have no CCJ or Bankruptcy, but I do have around 6 defaults in my name. I am also fully registered on the electoral role and I provided all the necessary ID documents upon applying.

Its quite frustrating really that I was not accepted for either of those accounts. Although as I said previously I was accepted and now have a Natwest Step Account, which I do intend to use but only if I need use of the Solo Card which comes with the account. I dont want this account to be my main source of funds as Natwest are linked to RBS, and I owe RBS money on a Credit Card. So the hunt is still on for a decent basic account.

I have an appointment with Yorkshire Bank on Monday, their account seems top notch apart from the lack of a debit card, but I guess that cant be helped and I can of course fall back on my natwest account if I really need to use a debit card i.e. eBay etc.

I might start a seperate thread as I am looking for opinions and information on how other MSE rate these banks basic accounts:

Abbey National
A & L
Yorkshire Bank

Cheers

Debt_Free_Chick

I think it's important that you find out why you were turned down - especially as they say that anyone can have one of their accounts. Even a bankrupt person! So it would be odd if a bankrupt person could get a basic account, but someone with a few defaults couldn't

It could be an innocent misunderstanding over an entry on the electoral roll .... or something similar ?

Yes - it would be good to have the feedback in a separate thread, but I think you need people to find out why they were turned down, in case it was unconnected to the their credit record.

Cheers

sgx.saint

I will give Nationwide a call regarding my application, although I am not too worried at this stage as I have an appointment with YB on Monday.

I will start a seperate thread regarding the Banks and the Basic Accounts. I am just interested in how people find them to use, what features and benefits they have. The banks dont have much information on their websites about their basic account offerings. Obviously because us basic account folk dont net them as much money

So it would be good to get some MSE insider opinions about the accounts.

modger

I had defaults registered aginst my name and got a basic onr from the Abbey - they were brilliant when i went in to open it!