Changing current accounts

mintymoneysaver

I am currently with first direct and have an overdraft of £350.I have been thinking of swapping to A and L, as there is an interest free overdraft plus the refer a friend thing will reduce my overdraft even more.Also I've heard First Direct will start charging shortly.
So the question is I get paid at the end of each month and have a few direct debits which come out at the beginning of the month.When would be the best time to open the new account to make sure everything goes through in time? Or will it not matter, as the debits don't come to more than £1000 anyway so in theory the overdraft would cover it?
I'm away next week so I wouldn't be able to do it until 5th Sept at the earliest.
Also if anyone would like to refer me I'm open to offers as I've seen quite a few people offering to share their referral fee.I'm afraid that to get rid of the overdraft I'll be going for the highest bidder:rotfl: ( with references of course!)

kenshaz

I would keep both accounts open,and move gradually,then you are sure of no problems,I would not relie on overdraft covering debits ,that is not good money saving.Run accounts in tandem and move money across online until it is all sorted.Leave it to them ,but if they mess up move money in time online
Also the £50 does not start until the 1st September

heppy23

I moved current accounts earlier this year. I started by writing to all the different companies to ask how to change and got quite a poor response.

With the ones that were hard to change what I did was this.
Wait until the DD went out then cancel it the next day.
Put enough money in the new account to cover the next months payment.
The old bank then writes to the company to say the DD has been cancelled.
The company are then very quick to get in touch to check the details.
Then the new DD is set up in time for the next payment.

I wouldn't do this on something like a mortgage where they might jump down your throat but I only used this method for those that didn't respond to my initial request.

humfer

Open the new account and if you have loads of direct debits you can use the new banks transfer team to move them all over. They should give you a list to approve and should then confirm when they will start to be paid from your new account. Some banks will also move your salary across if you want them to, but I found it easier to do myself.

Be prepared though as they can change things over very quickly indeed. I changed to Lloyds TSB from First Direct a couple of months ago and was astonished to how quickly it was all done. Don't worry, you'll be fine...

chatta

I switched to a&l they did everything after I signed form to authorise them and it all went really well don't worry

SalsaDanca

I changed to A&L last year, and used their account switching service to transfer my direct debits. Once my A&L account was open, they obtained a list of direct debits from my old Halifax current account, and sent it to me. Then they arranged for my salary to be paid into the A&L account. Once I had checked the form and sent it back, they contacted each company on the list and asked them to set up a new direct debit with A&L.

By this time I had set up internet banking for the A&L current account, so I could log in and check the list of direct debits. When a direct debit appeared A&L internet banking, I knew that it would be paid from the A&L in future. Some companies took a month or two to set up the new direct debit, and others (BT and ING Direct) ignored the request and I had to contact them directly. Some companies contacted me for confirmation, or sent me their own direct debit form.

Try to keep enough money (or available overdraft) in both accounts, so it doesn't matter which account unswitched direct debits are paid from. If this is a new account A&L will give you a free overdraft for the first year, so this shouldn't be too difficult. Once you know that a direct debit has been switched, transfer that amount from the old current account to the new one.

Be careful about cancelling the direct debits from you old account. MBNA got confused, and cancelled the direct debit from the new account as well as the old one, then tried to charge me a late payment fee!

Regards,

Rob