New Business Bank Account

Mr0

Hi

I had a bank account with HSBC, and switched this to Santander about a month. The account opened within a few days and I got my direct debits etc and my remaining credit switched from the old bank.

But a few days later Santander placed a block on the new account. I called up and they said that I needed to give ID at a branch. They should have gone through all this already as I opened the account at a branch. They were also unclear as to what ID they needed. So I grabbed everything I could get a hold of, passport, driving license, electricity bill, old bank statements, council letters and letters from hmrc. They faxed it for me to their checking people.

The problem I have is that as the switch process closed off my old business bank account, and the new one is blocked. I have a block of online payments coming in every couple of weeks and smaller card payments every day. But the company that processes these for me don't even know about the account switch, so I had to do it manually anyway (which I already did).

Sorry for the rant. Does anyone know what they are actually checking for and how long it will take? The automated credits are beginning to add up (£1000+ already) and it is affecting my cashflow. One of these companies say that any errors can only be corrected for 1 invoice. So if it takes too long I am worried about any money going missing.

If it makes a difference I use Santader as my main bank and I have most my money with them, so they have information about me even before I applied for the business account.