New member and desperate for help

vaper

I already know how much I spend on smoking.its around £260.00.I am aware of the benefits of quitting but its all I've got at the moment. Quitting will be my next step once I can think past these debts ;-)

vaper

Does anyone know if TSB are linked with any of the following?
Barclaycard
Santander
Capital 1
Co-op
Mint
MBNA
Britannia Building Society.
Am really struggling here folks.

Lumanous

Have you tried looking specifically for 'bad credit' current accounts? There are a whole load of 'lesser known' banks which may provide options for you.

Also curious did you look into building society accounts in the end? Has been mentioned earlier on this thread, may be beneficial to you.

vaper

Thanks Lumanous
I hadn't looked at Building Society Accounts yet as I need an account for direct debits, do they do them?
I will off and carry on my search.

Lumanous

I've had some further in the past which did allow direct debits yes but I haven't had one in a few years at least so just worth checking the terms but some of them definitely will allow dd.

Good luck with your search, there will be some out there for you. Worst case you might end up having to pay a charge just for the first year or so until it improves? Hope you find one without though

vaper

What do you mean by paying a charge for a year? If we use a bank our Credit cards are with?

Lumanous

Sorry no I mean there are some institutions out there (banks or otherwise, some banks are online only) which you might easily get a current account with but you might have to pay a monthly or yearly charge for the current account itself.

This would be a back-up plan, obviously the better option is to find a bank or building society that will give you a free account but if you really get stuck chances are you'll be able to get a current account with a fee. As a temporary measure it might be better than not getting an account at all. Just something to bear in mind

Then when situation is better you could move back to a standard current account to save the money

vaper

Ah right thanks, I'm with you now.
The problem i'm having at the minute is finding one that isn't linked to our credit cards, its a nightmare!

Lumanous

Don't give up. There are lots out there I would really recommend trying to go with a lesser known one, smaller institutions that are shareholder owned instead will probably be better that way they wouldn't be linked at all, just need one that doesn't mind not having good credit history etc.

Keep my fingers crossed for you. Otherwise maybe try an online only one you'll find something

Lumanous

Excuse my ignorance but why do you need a new bank account at all? Is that a requirement for the DMP so that your DMP payments are totally separate from any existing account that your creditors know about?

Sorry I've not been down the DMP route as self managing (still in the affordable stage just high debt) so I'm still learning about it all!