1st bank account, no utility bills, help!??

clbuzz

A dear friend of mine has been faced with opening a bank account of his own for the first time. aged 40!! He has a self seficiant life style and subsequently never had any bills, never owed anyone a penny( which in theory is very promising!), and no need for any utilities, opening a bank account has proved very tricky! If you cant provide utility bills you cant pass go! as it where! Does anyone have any ideas?? are there ways round this?? surely he can have a bank account??!

waddy80

Does he have a driving license or passport?

Lloyds TSB now do single ID, if he holds a driving license or passport, then that will be enough.

mouse_potato

Some banks are willing to accept other forms of ID if you don't have a passport/driving license, so I'd give the bank a call or pop in and explain the situation and see what they say.

And if you can't get anywhere with one bank then try another as every banks ID policy is different, and some are more flexible than others. There's quite a few to try:
http://www.moneyfacts.co.uk/banking/bestbuys/banking_basic_bank_accounts.aspx

Also, take a look at the FSA's leaflet on Basic Bank Accounts:

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/consumer/pdfs/bank_account.pdf

PBA

Abbey also do single ID, so only a passport or driving licence (photo style) would be ok.

Many banks will take address ID other than utility bills. Inland Revenue notifications (notice of coding or tax statement) might be ok, or if he doesn't work then a letter confirming his benefits might be ok. Each bank has their own ID policy though, so it might be worth his while first going round a few branches to get copies of each company's policy.

debster369

Give the bank in question a call. The bank I work for accepts other forms of address verification, e.g. Inland Revenue documentation, a tenancy agreement, letter from an employer (needs to be on headed paper, dated and with a name and contact number for someone if the branch want to check it out) and a whole bunch of other possibilities.

Debt_Free_Chick

The utility bill is usually used as an "official" confirmation that he actually lives at the address he claims to. Any other "official" bill should suffice.

You say he paid no bills ....surely he paid Council Tax? If so, then a CT bill would be sufficient. Or if that is more than a few months old, any other official communication.

Am I the only one curious as to how someone can live without paying any bills at all?

ABN

Debt_Free_Chick wrote:

Am I the only one curious as to how someone can live without paying any bills at all?

My wife seems to be able to

Debt_Free_Chick

ABN wrote:

My wife seems to be able to

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

Could you give me her phone number please?

Actually, as you pay the bill, perhaps I should be asking for your number :rolleyes:

jonesMUFCforever

One piece of photo id and you being on the electoral roll should be sufficent for bank I work with.

How has one managed to get to 40 years of age without an account is something I would be investigating if I was conducting an account opening interview - but at the end of the day it is the credit score at the end that is important and it is this that determines what type of account offered.

Toomuchdebt

PBA wrote:

Abbey also do single ID, so only a passport or driving licence (photo style) would be ok.

Nope Abbey need 2 forms of ID unless you are already a customer there.(And yes I do work for Abbey so I know what I'm talking about)

PBA

Toomuchdebt wrote:

Nope Abbey need 2 forms of ID unless you are already a customer there.(And yes I do work for Abbey so I know what I'm talking about)

On this one I'm afraid I'm right and you're wrong (you can look it up in the customer ID manual on Bookstore if you want). One original photocard driving licence or passport is fine in the branch, has been the case since mid August, tho by post 2 documents are still required. Yep, I do work there too, as a PBA in a branch (hence the user name).