Which joint current account (Not A&L)

mr_tickle_2

My girlfriend and I are looking for our first joint account. This will be for the usual stuff - paying the mortgage and shared bills out of etc.
We each have A&L premier direct current accounts. Because of this, the only A&L account we can have is a plain old current account, which doesn't pay any interest. As we will be paying over £1000 a month in there, it's not that good a deal.
I was wondering if anyone could suggest a good current account, which has good service and pays good interest.

sammiboo

can anyone help on this? its for my benefit too

techno_geek

The Halifax High-Interest Current Account pays 6.17% interest when you pay in over £1000 a month. The service is normally good.

Or there's the Lloyds TSB Classic Plus account (pays 4.25% interest when you pay in over £1000) - I've never had a problem with Lloyds.

Alternatively, there's the Smile current account which pays 3.04% on any balances, with no minimum monthly payment. Consistently excellent service!

Or, Nationwide's FlexAccount pays 4.25% interest when you pay in more than £1000 a month (there's no monthly minimum funding required to keep the account, just to get the interest rate!) Their overdraft rate is also much lower than any other bank. Also has consistently excellent service!

Phew! Hope this helps!

jamiesun

Classic account from Lloyds TSB is recommended.
Current account from Halifax is also very good too.

bristol_pilot

I hope you trust your gf. As this is a joint account, YOU will be responsible for any debt (overdraft) that she runs up on it (i.e. even after she stops being your gf). Not just half of it, the full amount.

I am with Halifax and the service has been quite good, especially the online service. It is quite easy to get a large overdraft facility though (i.e. £10k+), so be careful re. comment above.

JohalaReewi

techno_geek wrote: »

...
Alternatively, there's the Smile current account which pays 3.04% on any balances, with no minimum monthly payment. Consistently excellent service!
...

When I went to open a Smile current account, the T&Cs said you had to have your salary (or similar) paid in (or £1000 a month). Checked with CS and they said yes this is true even though they don't mention it when you are signing up.

http://www.smile.co.uk/servlet/ContentServer?c=Page&loc=l&pagename=Smile%2FPage%2FsmView&cid=971088193272
Scroll down a very long way to the section

SMILE CURRENT AND STUDENT ACCOUNT, OVERDRAFT AND DEBIT (VISA or ELECTRON) CARD CONDITIONS
...
1.1 To open an account you must:

* be a UK resident and over 18
* receive a regular payment (e.g. wage, salary, pension, etc) or at least £1,000 per month into your account

If you do not continue to meet these eligibility criteria we reserve our right to end the agreement or any agreed overdraft limit in accordance with condition 10 of the terms and conditions.'

sammiboo

bristol_pilot wrote: »

I hope you trust your gf. As this is a joint account, YOU will be responsible for any debt (overdraft) that she runs up on it (i.e. even after she stops being your gf). Not just half of it, the full amount.

Erm I hope he trusts me, otherwise he shouldnt be buying this house with me - sounds like you have had a bitter experience

The account isnt for normal spending. We have our own independant accounts for normal spending and own debt repayments. The joint account is purely for joint bills to come out of we will both have a direct debit into this account to amount of whatever the mortgage is plus extras. It will constantly be in credit hence shouldnt be a need for an overdraft.

I like the way the blokes always assume its the women that run up debt. :rolleyes:

Oh and thanks for your replies guys

emma396

i would say lloyds gold or select (comes with charge) only because of the benefits it offers. Mobile phone insurance, card protection, etc etc

sammiboo

emma396 wrote: »

i would say lloyds gold or select (comes with charge) only because of the benefits it offers. Mobile phone insurance, card protection, etc etc

Extras arent really a good thing in my experience. I had a barclays additions account £14 a month and I never used any of the "benefits"

I already have mobile phone insurance on my handset as it is an expensive phone and I am accident prone

But thanks anyway, will look into it