Halfiax Ultimate Reward Account

bilbo85

Hi,

Ive just opened a new Halifax reward account, and signed up to the switching service....im a bit worried because i get paid in 2 days....is everything going to run smoothly? Im a little bit worried now, i should have waited until AFTER id been paid this month! Can anyone help or give me an average time-frame for all the switching to be done....im just worried that im going to go OD with LLoyds TSB (my current bank) as my phone company and my car insurance and obvisouly gonna still take the money out of my lloyds account....will Halifax contact them?x

rb10

bilbo85 wrote: »

Hi,

Ive just opened a new Halifax reward account, and signed up to the switching service....im a bit worried because i get paid in 2 days....is everything going to run smoothly? Im a little bit worried now, i should have waited until AFTER id been paid this month! Can anyone help or give me an average time-frame for all the switching to be done....im just worried that im going to go OD with LLoyds TSB (my current bank) as my phone company and my car insurance and obvisouly gonna still take the money out of my lloyds account....will Halifax contact them?x

As it's only two days until you get paid your salary will still go to Lloyds.

Are you registered for online banking with both banks? The best thing to do is to keep an eye on both accounts while the switch is taking place.

If Halifax have given you an interest free overdraft then your primary concern is to ensure that your Lloyds account has enough money.

Halifax will contact any companies that take direct debits from your Lloyds account, and they will change them all over.

bilbo85

Hi rb10, thanks very much for your reply- really appreciated!

The thing is though....how am i gonna know when the DD's have been moved across, and also...lots of my DD's come out in the first week after my pay-day....so i guess the best thing to do, is just keep all my money in my Lloyds account for the next 2 or 3 weeks, to make sure its all covered! Im just a bit worried now!

Nessie23

bilbo85 wrote: »

Hi rb10, thanks very much for your reply- really appreciated!

The thing is though....how am i gonna know when the DD's have been moved across, and also...lots of my DD's come out in the first week after my pay-day....so i guess the best thing to do, is just keep all my money in my Lloyds account for the next 2 or 3 weeks, to make sure its all covered! Im just a bit worried now!

Hi Bilbo85,

I used Halifax's swithcing service and they took about 4-5 weeks to switch all the direct debits. Check with Halifax but you should be able to get a free overdraft to cover the switching period

(from their website) "We set up a fee-free overdraft on your account for 90 days* to cover any outgoings"
http://www.halifax.co.uk/bankaccounts/switch-to-halifax/

So as you say the best thing is keep enough money in Lloyds and use the free overdraft in your Halifax account (provided thay have given you one).

Halifax will send you a letter to inform you when they have contacted all your direct debit providers. You can however check the internet banking which will show new direct debits as soon as they are set up.

Final bit of advice Halifax managed to move all my direct debits except for one, so if you see that a particular direct is not appearing on your internet banking it is worth contacting them directly to ensure thay have your new bank account details rather than risking a missed payment!

bilbo85

Hi Nessie, thank you very much for your reply, thats a good idea, i saw that i would be given an overdraft in all the 'bamf' so that should be fine, ill just wait for my card to arrive and start using that and then i can leave my wages in my account for a few weeks, just to make sure its all sorted......its such a fuss isnt it.....this is why i hate changing banks! but the time had come! I couldnt put up with Lloyds any longer! lol.

I will keep checking the internet banking to make sure its all getting switched properly! One more thing though, a lot of my DD'd are due to come out this week coming.....do you think they will still be taken out of my old lloyds account, i cant imagine Halifax would be able to sort it all out THAT quickly.....also......did Halifax tell you that one of the DD's hadnt been set up properly...or did you just realise yourself? I would hope that Halifax would let you know if something wasnt switching across properly! x

Nessie23

bilbo85 wrote: »

Hi Nessie, thank you very much for your reply, thats a good idea, i saw that i would be given an overdraft in all the 'bamf' so that should be fine, ill just wait for my card to arrive and start using that and then i can leave my wages in my account for a few weeks, just to make sure its all sorted......its such a fuss isnt it.....this is why i hate changing banks! but the time had come! I couldnt put up with Lloyds any longer! lol.

I will keep checking the internet banking to make sure its all getting switched properly! One more thing though, a lot of my DD'd are due to come out this week coming.....do you think they will still be taken out of my old lloyds account, i cant imagine Halifax would be able to sort it all out THAT quickly.....also......did Halifax tell you that one of the DD's hadnt been set up properly...or did you just realise yourself? I would hope that Halifax would let you know if something wasnt switching across properly! x

Hi Bilbo, in my case the first direct debits only really starting chnaging over after two weeks, however if you have any specific queries I believe Halifax have a specific switching team helpline which you can call, so if in doubt give them a buzz.

With regards to the direct debit that had not gone through, I think I just noticed that this direct debit was not showing in my halifax internet banking and just resolved it directly. If I remember correctly they will send you a list with all your direct debits for your current bank. So, if you have internet banking with lloyds my recommendation is print out a list of your direct debits with them and then you can tick them off the print once you can see them arrived at the halifax account; I always use a belt and braces approach with banks! :cool: