Opening a Bank Account without 3 Years UK address History

Chalk07

Hi All,

I'm new to the forum and hoping for advice or any kind of help if possible.

I'm posting on behalf of a friend - She has lived in the UK since September 2014 with 2 previous addresses. Her address prior to this was in the Netherlands.

At present She has a International Student Account with Santander, and to comply with their rules, she wants to change her account to regular current account as she is no longer a student. Santander have explained that to be able to do this, she would need to first close her existing account, to open another. However, she's worried if she closes the account she currently has, she won't be able to open another because she lacks UK address history.

After they explained this, she has attempted to open an account with Barclay's and they have declined her application but cannot disclose any information why:huh: They suggested it may be down to multiple declines from other applications (not possible as this is the only one) - that's about as specific they are able to be.

Both myself and Barclay's have suggested just sticking with the account she currently has, and waiting for Santander to pull her up on it and force her to change accounts because she is no longer a student.

Does anyone have any experience on this? or any suggestions? It seems her lack of UK address history and little to no credit score (she has one current Direct Debit, and in the past 2 but are no longer active) is what is affecting the applications?

Would be really great to hear any feedback advice as I'm all out of ideas for her!

Thanks

Archi_Bald

To get a UK bank account, you do not need a history of address - all you need is proof of address. Your friend should be checking her credit reference history, e.g. using noddle.co.uk. If she hasn't got any in the UK, that might be the reason why she has been turned down. If she does have a credit history, then factors like not being on the Electoral Roll or having missed payments will work against her.

She could try Lloyds: http://www.lloydsbank.com/banking-with-us/joining-lloyds/new-to-the-uk.asp - see the page for details on what documents are required.

System

Try somewhere like Halifax, and if successful, ask Halifax to transfer her account over from Santander for a £125 credit.

Chalk07

Archi_Bald wrote: »

To get a UK bank account, you do not need a history of address - all you need is proof of address. Your friend should be checking her credit reference history, e.g. using noddle.co.uk. If she hasn't got any in the UK, that might be the reason why she has been turned down. If she does have a credit history, then factors like not being on the Electoral Roll or having missed payments will work against her.

She could try Lloyds: .

Thanks for your advice - she has attempted to see her own credit report - but all sites require 3 years of UK address history...:wall:

Frustrating to say the least!

She's applied to be on the electoral roll but not heard anything back, and has definitely not missed any payments on bills etc.

I've pointed her in the direct of that page you suggested with Lloyds, will see what the outcome is!

malihat

I have a friend who got married to a British citizen and moved here a couple of years ago. She doesn't work and had trouble opening a bank account. She did have an international student account at Barclays from when she studied here before (after completing her degree she moved back to her home country before getting married and moving back here). Anyway, Barclays said she had to close the international student account first to open a basic bank account and she'd also need proof of address but Barclays couldn't accept the bank statements of the closed account as proof of address and she had nothing else as proof. She then went to HSBC who told her over the phone that it would be no problem but then during her appointment at a branch the lady told her that if she didn't work, she didn't need a bank account. Finally she went to Lloyds just to add herself to her husband's account so that she'd at least have a joint account and she said the lady there was lovely and opened her a Club Lloyds account which has more benefits than a basic account. So long story short, it's possible but it also depends on who you speak to at the bank. She kept her Barclays account open till she opened the Lloyds account so she used those statements as proof of address. HTH.

ST-User

The same story when we moved to the UK: we had only a hand-written rent agreement, some utility invoices for the landlord's name. HBSC didn't want to open an account for us, Lloyds did it with pleasure.

kingmonkey

Sounds like she is being rejected due to ID check.

I think I would open a Basic Bank Account as backup before closing the international student account.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/basic-bank-accounts

Flobberchops

Well, 3 years UK address history *isn't* a prerequisite for a Barclays account - they would barely do any business in London if that was the rule - so the decline must have been for something else.

colsten

kingmonkey wrote: »

Sounds like she is being rejected due to ID check.

I think I would open a Basic Bank Account as backup before closing the international student account.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/basic-bank-accounts

You don't get a basic account either if the ID check fails.

Chalk07

kingmonkey wrote: »

Sounds like she is being rejected due to ID check.

I think I would open a Basic Bank Account as backup before closing the international student account.

That's what she is trying to do, open a basic bank account, but they won't allow her to do so.

Flobberchops wrote: »

Well, 3 years UK address history *isn't* a prerequisite for a Barclays account - they would barely do any business in London if that was the rule - so the decline must have been for something else.

Well we can't think of any other reason why she would be declined - I'm not saying you need proof of 3 years address history, I'm saying that they may check the history of your addresses and as she only has 2 years worth of UK ones, that may be why?

Chalk07

malihat wrote: »

I have a friend who got married to a British citizen and moved here a couple of years ago. She doesn't work and had trouble opening a bank account. She did have an international student account at Barclays from when she studied here before (after completing her degree she moved back to her home country before getting married and moving back here). Anyway, Barclays said she had to close the international student account first to open a basic bank account and she'd also need proof of address but Barclays couldn't accept the bank statements of the closed account as proof of address and she had nothing else as proof. She then went to HSBC who told her over the phone that it would be no problem but then during her appointment at a branch the lady told her that if she didn't work, she didn't need a bank account. Finally she went to Lloyds just to add herself to her husband's account so that she'd at least have a joint account and she said the lady there was lovely and opened her a Club Lloyds account which has more benefits than a basic account. So long story short, it's possible but it also depends on who you speak to at the bank. She kept her Barclays account open till she opened the Lloyds account so she used those statements as proof of address. HTH.

Thanks!

I've advised her to go and speak to lloyds, the club accounts charges £5 which she is trying to avoid by leaving her santander student account. Will see what the outcome is