Direct debits for current account switching incentives - Hargreaves Lansdown

tg99

Has anyone successfully set up direct debits with Hargreaves Lansdown for the purpose of switching current accounts? (Am doing a switch for a family member so rather than opening tesco savers was going to set up one direct debit for his own Hargreaves account and one for his daughter's junior ISA.....first payment to be taken say in Dec 2016 as they don't have to pay out for most switching offers so can cancel after switching completes before first payment is taken.) If so, was there any issue choosing a date for first payment long into the future (cannot select the date online as it just defaults to 7th of the next month but I think you can choose later dates if do by phone); if you did two DD as per above did they appear as separate mandates; and how long did it take for the direct debit mandates to show up on your bank account list of direct debits?

As an aside, since most stockbroking accounts allow you to invest monthly by direct debit then useful to note for anyone doing switches who already has an account and doesn't want to set up Tesco, PayPal, charity, magazine subscription etc.

Futuristic

It depends on your bank on how long it takes to show up once the instruction is sent, some (like Natwest I believe) will only show DD once the first payment has gone out whilst others will show it within 3-5 days of receiving the DD instruction.

YorkshireBoy

Things may have changed in recent times, but I had no end of bother changing my linked current account with Selftrade a few years ago.

I'd push them towards Tesco, especially since they can be used for future switching offers which DO require DDs (and of course Halifax and Club Lloyds).

tg99

Futuristic wrote: »

It depends on your bank on how long it takes to show up once the instruction is sent, some (like Natwest I believe) will only show DD once the first payment has gone out whilst others will show it within 3-5 days of receiving the DD instruction.

Yep, my query was more related to how long it might take Hargreaves to send out / process the instruction.

tg99

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

Things may have changed in recent times, but I had no end of bother changing my linked current account with Selftrade a few years ago.

I'd push them towards Tesco, especially since they can be used for future switching offers which DO require DDs (and of course Halifax and Club Lloyds).

Remind me, can you set up the Tesco DD at the same time as you apply online as it's been a while since I did mine and cannot recall? I opened two internet savers for me, if go down the Tesco route might do one internet saver and one instant access, does the latter allow you to set up the DD when applying online too like the former? I do remember that you can choose dates well into the future when setting them up will still prob go down that route to avoid having to route money in and out via SO etc given the switch he is doing doesn't need the two DD to pay out.

YorkshireBoy

tg99 wrote: »

Remind me, can you set up the Tesco DD at the same time as you apply online as it's been a while since I did mine and cannot recall? I opened two internet savers for me, if go down the Tesco route might do one internet saver and one instant access, does the latter allow you to set up the DD when applying online too like the former? I do remember that you can choose dates well into the future when setting them up will still prob go down that route to avoid having to route money in and out via SO etc given the switch he is doing doesn't need the two DD to pay out.

I can't remember (it's years since I opened mine) whether you can link external accounts during set up or not, but I would think you can.


Whatever you can do with the Internet Saver you can do with the Instant Access Savings Account, in terms of both pulling in and paying out.


It's around 10 days or so to the first pull being available, but only 2-3 days until you see the DDI on the current account. All days are 'working' days. However, I have seen reports on here of people experiencing problems if they switch before the first pulls have been made. Something to bear in mind possibly?

tg99

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

I can't remember (it's years since I opened mine) whether you can link external accounts during set up or not, but I would think you can.


Whatever you can do with the Internet Saver you can do with the Instant Access Savings Account, in terms of both pulling in and paying out.


It's around 10 days or so to the first pull being available, but only 2-3 days until you see the DDI on the current account. All days are 'working' days. However, I have seen reports on here of people experiencing problems if they switch before the first pulls have been made. Something to bear in mind possibly?

Thanks. I have had a prob myself with switching DD via Tesco, where Tesco cancelled the switched DD by mistake shortly after the switch but then still tried to take the payment. They compensated me and acknowledged it was their error and something they are aware that sometimes happens when people switch current accounts.

realaledrinker

Tesco seem to be tightening up by insisting on evidence that the bank account to be linked to is in your name, in the form of hard copy bank statements (not printouts). Happened to me twice recently.

Kernel_Sanders

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

I'd push them towards Tesco, especially since they can be used for future switching offers which DO require DDs (and of course Halifax and Club Lloyds).

Unsuitable for Club Lloyds as they require DDs to be paid each month (apart from first two months).

YorkshireBoy

Kernel_Sanders wrote: »

Unsuitable for Club Lloyds as they require DDs to be paid each month (apart from first two months).

What on earth are you talking about?