Transferring money between accounts

mysk_girl

Hi,

I currently have £19.5k in a current account with Nationwide. This is comprised of £4.5k that was refunded from my mortgage account (previous overpayments) and a £15k loan from my Mum. I also have £30.5k sat in a savings account with lloyds, which was a gift from my aunt. Sort of an inheritance, but not an official one, she just wanted to give me and my sisters a gift from my uncle (now deceased). It was paid in the form of a US$ cheque, which I cashed through my lloyds account. A couple of questions were asked at the time, but I just said it was an inheritance and they were happy with that.

I need to transfer the £30.5k to Naionwide as the money is being used to build an extension, the Nationwide account is one I don't use much but has a chequebook on it so I can write weekly cheques to the builder and suppliers. I was just going to send it by transfer, but I've just browsed a few threads where people's accounts have been inveatigatied for money laundering.

Is it likely that the transfer to make a total of £50k in my Nationwode account would trigger this kind of investigation? The accounts are both sole accounts in my name, I have had both for a number of years and have used both as my main account at one time or another. Currently the Lloyds one is my main account, hence using the Nationwide one being used to hold the money for the build.

The thing that's worrying me is that I can prove where the money in the Nationwide has come from, but not the Lloyds money as there is no will saying that it is an official inheritance. I'm worried in case they think I lied to them? Or would they have done money laundering cheques at the time? The cheque was written from my aunts account, she has my maiden surname (Dad and Uncle were brothers), the money from my Mum would have also come from an account matching my maiden name. Both accounts predate my marriage, so my maiden name should be in the records for both accounts.

Or am I worrying about nothing?!?

innovate

Are you sure your builders/suppliers want cheques? They usually have to pay for depositing cheques and it takes several days for the cheque to clear. Many builders/workmen I have spoken to prefer bank transfers these days because they are literally instant, and they don't get charged for receiving money that way.

Why don't you have a cheque book for Lloyds? Do you not have Lloyds Vantage accounts (that pay you 3% interest)? You can have 3 of these, so £15K could be sat in there. You only need a cheque book on one of the accounts, if indeed you need any cheque book at all. The rest you can manage by internal transfers. You could have another £15K in BoS Vantage accounts, similar arrangement.

Depending on how quickly you need the money, all the above might be overkill. If you are in the midst of the extension, just transfer what you need to pay each month.

mysk_girl

I have worked with these builders before and it was a mixture of cheques and bank transfers depending on who I was paying. Skip company, chippy, electrician and plumber want cheques, builder will accept either.

I do have a chequebook for lloyds, but I am using it as my main account and don't really want to mingle the two. The entire sum is likely to be paid out before the end of May, they are starting on Monday. Not sure if my account is a Vantage one...

I just really wanted it all in one place, but was a touch spooked by the possibility of a money laundering investigation!