The snatch of Switching Bank A/C

adindas

Why I am afraid of switching my main bank A/C :

- DD / SO could go wrong. You are expecting that you do not need to do anything and suddenly you get notice from your Credit Card companies, Late Payment fee, interest,etc. Not to mention it will be tagged by useless system CRA as miss payment which will effect your credit rating.

- Problem with finance department in your work place, forget to change your details eventhough you have already told them. You were expecting your money come to your new a/c and then it did not and you run overdraft. Again tagged as overdraft.....

This is the main problem I am facing to switch my main a/c.
Do you have experience or other problem that I have not seen ?

Thank You
ADINDAS

rb10

But seeing as you have already considered these two potential problems, you can be prepared for them.

- SO/DD - check on the new bank's internet banking that they have been set up correctly; check statements frequently to ensure that payments are still leaving (from one account or the other).
- Check your new account on payday, and if the money's not there, then check the old one. With Faster Payments you can easily transfer the money around yourself to ensure that it's where you want it to be.

Bear in mind that many banks will give an introductory free overdraft for the first couple of months or so, so it doesn't matter too much if money's not where you expect it to be.

AnonymousForObviousReason

If you have the cash keep enough to cover bills in both accounts for a month or so.

When I switched some DDs didn't get updated in time, everyone I spoke to was understanding about it so think it's fairly common. The most fearful was the mortgage, I called them prepared for a fight, lengthy explanations and tears. It ended up as "Sorry about the DD, I'm moving my account..." they said "Oh, never mind that explains it. We'll just try again in the next few days to ensure our systems have updated. Thanks for letting us know. Bye" - I almost fell off my chair.

opinions4u

Ok, things can go wrong, but they are certainly the exception to the rule. 98% of them go fine. Not many post on here saying that things have gone wrong.

From my Halifax days, the biggest cause of things going wrong was the customer. They'd ask the bank to transfer the account but then they'd interfere in the process and try to do the salary, or tell some of the direct debit companies what they were doing. Simple rule is let the bank sort it. There is then clear and absolute blame if it goes wrong, and less chance of problems.

The other issue would be government. Pensions, tax credits, salary credits from the state had a much higher incidence of difficulty. You should still leave the work with your banks, but just keep a particularly close eye on these parts of the process. If in doubt, talk to the bank doing the transfer. Don't try and sort it out for them!

jen245

I did my switch from A&L to Natwest myself. All my dd's I changed online in a few minutes as I only have 3 anyway, I also changed my child benefit online, called up tax credits who changed my bank details over the phone, and went to payroll at my workplace, with my new bank account number, and they changed it for me then and there. It was quite easy and painless, and I didn't have the headache of waiting for Santander to get their act together and give Natwest the info! I guess if you have a lot of dd's, it might be better to use your new banks switching service, but for me, it was quicker and easier to do it myself

adindas

[FONT=&quot]AnonymousForObviousReason

Yes, this might solve the problem If you keep the DD/So to cover bills in both accounts. Most people could do this, I could do this as well

But what You do not want is that double payment from both a/c. Once you pay someone, bills, etc it is difficult to get your money back eventough they know it is a double payments.

Also keeping your eye on both accounts for DD/SO for me is a huge unnecessary work[/FONT]

ADINDAS

AnonymousForObviousReason wrote: »

If you have the cash keep enough to cover bills in both accounts for a month or so.

When I switched some DDs didn't get updated in time, everyone I spoke to was understanding about it so think it's fairly common. The most fearful was the mortgage, I called them prepared for a fight, lengthy explanations and tears. It ended up as "Sorry about the DD, I'm moving my account..." they said "Oh, never mind that explains it. We'll just try again in the next few days to ensure our systems have updated. Thanks for letting us know. Bye" - I almost fell off my chair.

AnonymousForObviousReason

jen245 wrote: »

I did my switch from A&L to Natwest myself. All my dd's I changed online in a few minutes as I only have 3 anyway, I also changed my child benefit online, called up tax credits who changed my bank details over the phone, and went to payroll at my workplace, with my new bank account number, and they changed it for me then and there. It was quite easy and painless, and I didn't have the headache of waiting for Santander to get their act together and give Natwest the info! I guess if you have a lot of dd's, it might be better to use your new banks switching service, but for me, it was quicker and easier to do it myself

Some banks give you a bonus if you let them switch you (not sure why as I'd have thought if you did it all it'd be cheaper for them when you do the work).

adindas

My experience is different. Once I have a bad experience because the Direct debit of my Barclays Card that I switch from HSBC to Barclays.

I have asked Barclays bank in which I also have Bank a/c to set up DD for my Barclays card. I was convinced by Barclays telephone banking person at that time that I did not need to do anything as all jobs is done and I am rilex.

Suddenly the following month I see in my Barclays Card account online, late payment fee + interest. You see this happen even in the same bank.
I call Barclaycard, it was sorted and the late payment fee + interest charged were refunded. But they have reported me to CRA as late payments and this they can not reverse. I did not know why, probably because too much work for them.
From that time, it creates the problem. When I apply Halifax clarity Card, it was rejected and they explain when I call them that my credit rating is not good enough, even though I never miss/late payment before.

I have other Credit Cards with around £5000 limit as well as overdraft facility that I never use, have various saving a/c.
Fortunately I manage to appeal the decision for declining my credit card application and It is successful.
You see how damage it is if we miss the payment even though it was not our fault.
ADINDAS

jen245 wrote: »

I did my switch from A&L to Natwest myself. All my dd's I changed online in a few minutes as I only have 3 anyway, I also changed my child benefit online, called up tax credits who changed my bank details over the phone, and went to payroll at my workplace, with my new bank account number, and they changed it for me then and there. It was quite easy and painless, and I didn't have the headache of waiting for Santander to get their act together and give Natwest the info! I guess if you have a lot of dd's, it might be better to use your new banks switching service, but for me, it was quicker and easier to do it myself

olly300

One problem you haven't mentioned is company's co-operating with the bank.

A few years ago when I used a bank's switching service on Telecoms company refused to co-operate with them citing Data Protection laws. They me final demands and threatening letters claiming I hadn't paid when in fact the problem was them not co-operating with the new bank because they couldn't be bothered.

adindas

I just switched my Bank A/C from my Barclay to Coop because I want to harvest their travel insurance perks.

What I have learn so far is that in the switching case, you do not need to close your old Bank a/c, in my case it is Barclay, they just need we switch at least 1DD and 1SO.

This is good news then, as for some people like me I will only close my long standing bank a/c with Barclay's (also HSBC) as a last resort. Apparent reason for that is:
- I have been banking with Barclay's (and HSBC) for many years without any problems, so this will help to maintain my credit score high. This will also help me to easily get major credit like Mortgage, etc.
- As this is an old a/c with Barclays, there is no dormancy fee or minimum funding requirement, so it will keep open as long as I want to leave it open.
- Baclays (and also HSBC) has international reputation and can not be matched by other UK Bank, very efficient international customer services worldwide, so it is highly unlikely that their Debit card will get rejected if we travel worldwide. Even it get rejected or your a/c get blocked we could easily contact one of their branches abroad and they will help you. This is my personal experience. So I think that is what the other UK banks can not match these both biggest banks.

For DD or SO requirement I will use 1 of my CC DD and 1 of my RSA SO.
For my CC DD I will pay/clear directly (by direct FP) all balance which is left on the old bank (Barclay) to make sure that there no more to pay. I will not use my CC for at least 1 months, and wait until all my DD appear in the new a/c in Coop is open.

I have learnt quite a few pitfalls from you guys from your answers thank you for your valuable info.

If you look on my case above do you think is there any Pitfall that may happen with my above positions and assumptions, or do you have any other suggestion ?