Why is it so tricky to move bank?

mistressg

A couple of months ago I moved bank from Santander to Bank of Scotland. I was happy as anything with Alliance and Leicester but since they were bought by Santander I've experienced nothing but getting messed about, money getting put in/taken out late and abysmal customer service.

So I moved to Bank of Scotland. Now the only income I get currently (due to other mess ups) is the interest from my savings. This is what I live on. This is paid in every month by Legal and General. When I set up the account BoS said they would arrange for all incomes/direct debits to be set up but that Santander are very reluctant to let you move. I was warned it would probably take a bit of time.

They got the direct debits set up on the new account and I contacted Legal and General (who required my dad to sign saying that I could change banks, even though I'm in my mid-twenties...but that's a different matter) and they said over a month ago that they had set up my payments to my new account.

1st March rolls in...I'm paid into my old account! Thank God I didn't cut up my card as BoS suggested I do as everything was set up.

I've transferred my income to my new account to deal with direct debits this month but who do I go to about this? I have the distinct feeling I'll just be fobbed off "oh this is a Santander issue" "you should probably take it up with Bank of Scotland" "have you contacted Legal and General about this?"

Why is it so difficult to just move banks? I've never had this much hassle in the past. Who could I go to to get this sorted?

ses6jwg

It's nothing to do with Santander as it's an incoming payment.

I suspect the main culprit here is Legal and General as they are the ones sending the funds to the incorrect account.

missile

I have never found it difficult to switch.

Your new bank should arrange to switch all your D/D and S/Os. You need to contact the payee to switch any payments into your old account. Neither Santander nor BOS can do that for you. BOS will supply you a form to complete and send to L&G.

Do not close old account until you are sure switch is completed.

mistressg

Thanks for replies.

Only issue is that L&G sent me a letter at the end of January saying this had all been done and payments would now go to my new account. They also seem extremely difficult to get in contact with (spent about an hour being bounced from number to number last time) so really don't want to have to fight through that again.

Going to speak to BoS next time I can to see what they suggest.

ses6jwg

mistressg wrote: »

Thanks for replies.

Only issue is that L&G sent me a letter at the end of January saying this had all been done and payments would now go to my new account. They also seem extremely difficult to get in contact with (spent about an hour being bounced from number to number last time) so really don't want to have to fight through that again.

Going to speak to BoS next time I can to see what they suggest.

BoS will either get you to sign a form which they will send to L&G or do exactly as we have done and reccomend you speak to L&G directly.

The bank you are switching to CANNOT:

- Close your old account.
- Re-arrange any incoming payments
- Move any money from your old account

They can ask you to sign forms which they will send to your existing/ old provider on your behalf, however my day to day experience of actually "switching" accounts myself is that this is unreliable and results in broken promises.

I always inform the customer that whilst we will switch any debits/ standing orders, I would reccomend that you re-arrange your salary and close your old account as we cannot guarantee your old provider will do it on our request.

rb10

mistressg wrote: »

Only issue is that L&G sent me a letter at the end of January saying this had all been done and payments would now go to my new account.

So the fault clearly lies with L&G ... they have been informed of the fact that you have a new bank account, and that they should now be paying into that one ... yet they have not acted upon your instructions.