Son refused upgraded bank account

BOOKLOVER_3

Can anybody advise me please?. My 18 year old son has had a bank account (basic) with Halifax for years since primary school. He wants a small overdraft so applied for a student account (he is staill at college not uni), online but was refused the account. I am not sure if this is because of his fathers and mine bad credit rating or if it is because he isn't at uni?.

It is the first time he has applied for credit of any kind and he works so has wages going in reguarly as well as EMA. If it is down to us (parents) IS THERE ANYTHING THAT CAN BE DONE?.

tHANKS

PC_Gabriel_Kent

Try another bank i would say. Halifax are hopeless anyway.

opinions4u

1. He's not an under-graduate, so probably doesn't qualify for the account.

2. Halifax usually require minimum income of £250 a month before they will consider an overdraft (different for students).

3. He's only 18 - why on earth does he want to get in to debt at such a young age?

4. If he's full time college, part-time working then how does he intend to repay the debt?

The decline letter will either say "failed credit score" in which case it is a Halifax internal decsion or it will provide the name and address of the CRA used.

If it's the latter, then it is a decision based on their interpretation of CRA provision of information.

PC_Gabriel_Kent wrote: »

Try another bank i would say. Halifax are hopeless anyway.

Some may agree, some may disagree. Regardless of that, a bank that will extend an overdraft to somebody at college with a part-time wage is taking a significant lending risk. Do Santander offer overdrafts to such high risk customers?

book12

Try LTSB Under 19's account. It has good inerest rates, but no overdraft though. I don't suggest him having an overdraft.

Student accounts are for university students only, not school/college students (i.e. GCSE/A-levels). That's why your son got declined. You could try Halifax again, but it has to be one of these: http://www.halifax.co.uk/bankaccounts/currentaccount.asp or http://www.halifax.co.uk/bankaccounts/reward-current-account.asp

Banks usually upgrade childrens/teenagers account to another type of account when reaching 18 automatically . It's strange that Halifax hasn't done this.

BOOKLOVER_3

Thanks for your replies. I too am uncertain about him having an overdraft, but my daughter had one whilst at college and working and managed very well and he is very sensible overall. He is going on holiday and just wanted some extra security should he need it, but I can see why it could be a dangerous thing for a young man to have access to. He works quite a lot outside of college and would be able to pay his overdraft back I think. At the end of the day he is classed as an adult now and I can only advise him, but it appears it won't happen anyway so not going to stress too much about it.

He still hasn't had a reply from the bank - he applied online so may not get a letter. We just really wanted to know why he was declined, but as some of the replies suggest he isn't an undergraduate so not eligible for a student account.

Thanks again.

Lokolo

Yes you have to be an undergrad at uni to get a student account.

MrsManda

He won't get a student account as he's not an university student. However he should be able to apply for a current account which will have an overdraft facility though it won't be interest free. Much better to go into a branch to sort it out rather than applying online.

Sharon87

I would not suggest Halifax for overdrafts. They charge you £1 a day for using it. So I would suggest if he wants an account with an overdraft facility he's better of somewhere else, HSBC, Barclays.etc