opening a hsbc basic account - proof of address

Tumtitums

My Romanian lodger has been trying to open a basic back account at HSBC however they said that the rental agreement wasn't acceptable because it isn't produced by a letting agency or some other organisation. I'm insulted by this as the terms of the agreement are enforceable by law therefore i do not understand why its contents would be acceptable in a court but isn't acceptable to the spotty faced geek in the not so local branch of hsbc
I'm also a bit concerned that HSBC have now given my lodger the impression that the agreement isnt worth the paper its written on

Herbalus

Tumtitums wrote: »

I'm insulted by this as the terms of the agreement are enforceable by law therefore i do not understand why its contents would be acceptable in a court but isn't acceptable to the spotty faced geek in the not so local branch of hsbc
I'm also a bit concerned that HSBC have now given my lodger the impression that the agreement isnt worth the paper its written on

Firstly, there's no need to be insulting to front line staff that don't have the power to override group policy that applies to the whole international banking operation of HSBC.

Secondly, I think you're misunderstanding the importance of ID verification for banks. There have been huge fines in the past for not having sufficient proof of who their customers are. And I'm sure you can appreciate as much as the next person that Bob down the pub could quite easily print off a lodger contract from the internet - it's hardly irrefutable proof of address. That doesn't mean the contract isn't legal, but they're different things.

You need to understand the difference between evidence acceptable to a court, and proof of address. It's not the same.

10pence

I'd second that sentiment, there is no need to insult the frontline staff.

While HSBC state they can take tenancy agreements as part of the ID/AV, they can still be rejected at any stage of the account opening process. Your tenant is better off getting another form of address verification such as an updated council tax bill.

On a side note, the Basic Bank Account (BBA) only used to be opened centrally with branch openings for very special exemptions. This has changed recently and all BBAs can be opened in branch - whether the branch will is another matter.

Archi_Bald

Your lodger should be able to get a tax code notice from the HMRC. This will be acceptable as proof of address.

Tumtitums

Herbalus wrote: »

Firstly, there's no need to be insulting to front line staff that don't have the power to override group policy that applies to the whole international banking operation of HSBC.

Secondly, I think you're misunderstanding the importance of ID verification for banks. There have been huge fines in the past for not having sufficient proof of who their customers are. And I'm sure you can appreciate as much as the next person that Bob down the pub could quite easily print off a lodger contract from the internet - it's hardly irrefutable proof of address. That doesn't mean the contract isn't legal, but they're different things.

You need to understand the difference between evidence acceptable to a court, and proof of address. It's not the same.

1. They are being insulting about a document which took me a considerable amount of time and effort to produce and continually review by saying to him that "its something i wrote in 2 minutes on a few scraps of paper " just because i am not a registered company.

2. That is not an answer to the issue. For example it says that he has paid a £450 deposit for living here. If i don't return the deposit are you saying that if he goes to court with the document as the only evidence of his address then i can argue that despite the fact we both signed it and it has the property address, the rental agreement is not sufficient evidence to show that he lives here as that is what HSBC are saying. I will try this and see what happens

pmduk

Tumtitums wrote: »

1. They are being insulting about a document which took me a considerable amount of time and effort to produce and continually review by saying to him that "its something i wrote in 2 minutes on a few scraps of paper " just because i am not a registered company.

2. That is not an answer to the issue. For example it says that he has paid a £450 deposit for living here. If i don't return the deposit are you saying that if he goes to court with the document as the only evidence of his address then i can argue that despite the fact we both signed it and it has the property address, the rental agreement is not sufficient evidence to show that he lives here as that is what HSBC are saying. I will try this and see what happens

But anybody else could have produced the document (or a similar one) with fictitious details, including the amount paid.

meer53

No proof of address, no account. It's simple really. If your lodger can't provide an acceptable document, no bank will offer him an account. The "spotty faced geek" is doing his job, correctly.

Get your lodger to read the list of documents that HSBC (or any other bank) will accept. HMRC documents are easy to get hold of.

colsten

Tumtitums wrote: »

1. They are being insulting about a document which took me a considerable amount of time and effort to produce

You are being unreasonable in that you expect that you would be the one person that HSBC would make an exception for. No document from any private person is on HSBC's list of acceptable documents. They are not insulting anyone. You will find that any other bank will be the same.

Herbalus

The distinction between HSBC (or any other bank's) acceptance of these documents and the acceptance of them in the courts, is that a court can weed out fake contracts. So your lodger could refute that she signed the agreement and provide evidence that she actually lives somewhere else for example. Then the court can evaluate whether or not the contract stands.

In the case of you not returning the deposit, the court that your lodger could take you to is the small claims court, which has a relatively low threshold of proof i.e. the court will decide based on what's the more likely story. That's nowhere near the level of proof required by a bank to fulfil what they are required to do by law.

And you can't expect a bank to distinguish between a complicated contract that took you weeks to design, and one printed from the internet.