Fed up with Halifax re:bank account closure AGAIN

MiLady

Been in to halifax today, the same bank I've been with since I was 13 and I finished university last september so I've still got a student account with them, which entitles you to an arranged overdraft which is interest free up to £2500 which I heavily relied on as a student, but have now paid off the majority of and now I have an arranged overdraft of £300. My student account will automatically be transferred to a regular current account in august (charging me £1 a day for an overdraft).

I was interested in the ultimate reward current account where I pay £12 a month, receive £5 reward a month and get an interest free overdraft up to £300. I was under the impression that I would be able to transfer my account straight over, but because halifax didn't close an account that my boyfriend and i had opened specifically for bills while at uni which we closed in 2008 (or so we thought) and add this to my student account and savings account makes 3 accounts. You can't open more than 3 account with them apparently. I've been handed a purple form to fill out with details of the account that was supposed to be closed, for which I no longer have any information because we were made to hand this over and cut up our cards at the time of the meeting so I can't actually fill out the form and was then dismissed.

I like to have a small overdraft available because for example this month my car has had to go in to be repaired, I've had to pay double my car insurance because I've taken over ownership of my car insurance and have had to replace my laptop, this will all be paid off as soon as I get paid, in the meantime I need the overdraft.

But as I understand I now have to sit and wait for my account to be changed over by Halifax in august, pray to god I don't need to use any overdraft and then wait for my account to be upgraded and another £300 overdraft to be authorised.

I'm at a loss of what to do, this is the second time I've taken the time to try and get an account closed and halifax have failed to deliver. I'm cross at the way I was patronised and dismissed at the bank and how I was made to feel like I was the one in the wrong, as if I have been an unreliable customer, which is not true.

rb10

You can upgrade a student account to an Ultimate Reward account easily. The member of staff you spoke to was wrong to tell you otherwise.

noh

and add this to my student account and savings account makes 3 accounts. You can't open more than 3 account with them apparently.

That's also incorrect.

BigAndy_79

rb10 wrote: »

You can upgrade a student account to an Ultimate Reward account easily. The member of staff you spoke to was wrong to tell you otherwise.

Wrong.....

Mikeyorks

MiLady wrote: »

You can't open more than 3 account with them apparently.

That applies to (Reward based) current accounts only - and where you're in 'partnership' i.e. one in sole name (each) and one in joint name. It has no relevance to savings accounts.

jambosans

BigAndy_79 wrote: »

Wrong.....

Right. Student Current Accounts automatically re-designate to the Current Account a year after graduation (or whenever the end date has been keyed). The URCA is just a packaged current account which you can upgrade to without any further checks.

MiLady

jambosans wrote: »

Right. Student Current Accounts automatically re-designate to the Current account a year after graduation (or whenever the end date has been keyed). The URCA is just a packaged current account which you can upgrade to without any further checks.

The first sentence was my understanding too, but the woman I spoke to, after making me feel about 2inches tall told me that in order to get the URCA I would have to send my details off for authorisation of the overdraft that is one of the benefits of paying £12 a month for the interest free overdraft and that I would not be guarenteed to get it because it's dependent on a credit check. In which time I would have to wait however many days it took to do this. I will be the first to admit that I don't understand alot of finance related stuff, which is why I joined this forum as I thought I might be able to clear things up.

Clara_Lou

I would suggest speaking to another member of staff about this as the woman you spoke to is wrong you can change your account straight to an Ultimate Reward account.

Its a two stage process. Your student account has to be changed to a standard current account and then the next day it would be changed to an Ultimate Reward Account. This means you will be able to keep the same sort code and account number as your account is just renamed.

Hope this helps