Declined, declined and declined

thebritishbloke

Get a grip. You've already been told that it's not entirely to do with the fact that you've not been in the country, people who've lived here their whole lives can't get some of the accounts. You need to build up a credit history that shows you're a responsible borrower (even if you're not asking for a borrowing facility).

You can try and write to the banks to appeal, but I wouldn't expect them to turn it around. Almost every bank has a policy of 3 years of being in the UK. It shows that you're here to stay rather than get up and go in 5 minutes time.

xylophone

I wonder would NS&I accept you? If so, you could hold the lot in income bonds? They pay gross monthly - advise HMRC re tax.

colsten

WeB wrote: »

I fail to see why I don't have the same options as someone that has been here longer than 3 years. I have to follow all the rules anyone else does, incl. paying taxes etc... . So rather the opposite of being special, I'd like to be treated as anyone else.

It isn't reasonable to expect the same rights after a few months as someone who has lived here for years. That's just a fact, and it isn't a UK-specific facts and also not just limited to banks. Live with it, everyone else who is new to the UK does too. Many people who have lived their entire life in the UK get turned down for bank accounts, no just you.

But if you have been turned down by 5 banks for a proper current account, your problems might be a lot more severe, particularly if one of the banks was Lloyds. None of us here know for certain why you have been turned down but may be you have rubbed up the banks the wrong way. As I commented before, rocking up with lots of money raises suspicion, and you have obviously not been able to alleviate them. Telling banks you want to user their current accounts as savings accounts might not be the smartest thing to do either. Harping on about rights you should have will also not necessarily go down very well.

None of use know what your credit files look like, either - do you?

What happened when you tried to open savings accounts, btw?

prosaver

Hsbc are quite relaxed

NotRichAtAll

WeB wrote: »

I fail to see why I don't have the same options as someone that has been here longer than 3 years. I have to follow all the rules anyone else does, incl. paying taxes etc... . So rather the opposite of being special, I'd like to be treated as anyone else.

Why should you have the same right's as someone who has been here longer? it's all about building up a history be it credit or work related, judging by the tone in your replies i am going to go out on a limb and suggest you have probably ruffled a few feather's because you could not get your own way in our banking system, 85k or 185k is not really an amount that gets you past red tape or rules. Do you not get interest in Belgium or wherever your native country is?

leeroy2009

quite simply no bank wants to offer you any type of account that comes with or offers credit facilities, hence why you can only get basic accounts.


write a letter of appeal if it bothers you that much.

henm2

prosaver wrote: »

Hsbc are quite relaxed

Since when? You will find them quite thorough in their account opening procedures.

bonjan

Try applying for a Lloyds Bank current account online.

paragon909

What does "slowly moving money to this country mean" in what way is the OP moving this money to the UK? If you dont have a bank account to do a international or european transfer i dont see how this is possible.Unless your bringing cash when you enter the country and anything over 10k i believe has to be declared to customs.

Cant you buy a house in the UK by making a transfer from your existing bank account in the other country...... Just saying..

colsten

paragon909 wrote: »

.Unless your bringing cash when you enter the country and anything over 10k i believe has to be declared to customs.

There is no requirement to declare anything inside the EU. The EU is a free trade zone, with free movement of people and money.

paragon909 wrote: »

Cant you buy a house in the UK by making a transfer from your existing bank account in the other country...... Just saying..

I agree, that is definitely a valid option (at least technically - - it might not always be advantageous from an exchange rate point of view). Just like Brits can pay for houses in e.g. France or Spain or Italy with money from their UK bank accounts, Belgians can pay for their houses in the UK with money from their belgian bank account.