Five people joint account

alexanderb

I was wondering which banks offered this sort of joint account? I'm fully aware of the risks involved with joint accounts and it's not something we're even agreed on doing, however I'd like to look into providers of such accounts for the time being.

Does anybody know of any banks that allow joint accounts between five people? Preferably ones that allow you to set up with say two/three people and add more on at a later date?

callum9999

Why would you want an account with 5 people on it at all? You say you are "fully aware" of the risks involved, but it doesn't really sound like you are if you're still considering it (unless you have a particularly obscure reason for needing it)!

alexanderb

Ok, as I said it's a consideration for the time being.

The reason being because my landlord from August is requesting we pay out of one account, and this seems like it could be the fairest option to everybody rather than leaving one person with the burden of having all the money come from their account.

DCFC79

Why out of 1 account, surely as long as he gets his money then how can he not be happy.

InsideInsurance

I suspect he just doesnt want to have to have 5 separate payments coming in, if he has dozens of properties then having to check you have the right number from each property each month becomes a headache and tracking the missing one also so. If they have a business account it could be more expensive too if there is a per transaction fee.

Plus with rents you tend to be jointly and severally liable so arguably you want to ensure everyone pays in full otherwise you could be paying your share for a few months then both get kicked out for non-payment and have debt collectors chasing you because you discover that one of your flatmates havent been paying. Kind of makes it more sensible to have an all or nothing approach

innovate

You could try Citibank. I used to have a joint account with 3 others with them. They did actually give us 2 joint accounts, each with 2 names, but all 4 of us could transact from both accounts.

Also worth asking other banks.

However - - - - does having a joint account really address the issue? If one or more of you doesn't pay their monthly share into the joint account, isn't that essentially the same as not paying it to one of you? In either case, you'd be short on what you have to pay to the landlord.

It would also be interesting to see the rental contract(s) that support a payment from one single joint account, or one of you paying for 5 parties. Have you got one contract or 5?

And what will you do if one of you move out before the others? What will the landlord do contractually?

CLAPTON

if one doesn't pay
then the cheque / SO may bounce or incur charges and affect all your credit rating

madness

innovate

v good point about credit rating, didn't think of that. even if they paid their share in the rent promptly, you'd be linked to them and could end up with a ruined credit record if they screw up elsewhere.

davethorp

If you opened a joint account you would be be financially linked on your credit files which could be a very bad thing if one of you has had credit problems in the past (or the future)

If the landlord is insisting on payments from one account I strongly suggest you nominate one of your flatmates or yourself to make the payments and then everyone else pays whoever is nominated. You could even take it in turns to do this if you wanted as the landlord would still be getting 1 payment and wouldn't notice much of a difference

jonesMUFCforever

I don't think any bank will offer you this.

[Deleted User]

Say your rent day is the 25th, why not ask your housemates to Faster Payment their shares to you by close of business on the 23rd, then send the rent on (or kneecap any non-payers) on the 24th?