Switching banks - second thoughts

Kim_13

^ Searches are removed after 1 year (Equifax and Experian) and 2 years (CallCredit) also. So if you were wanting to remortgage in 2020 as in badger09's example, the searches would be gone by then.

It's always advisable to decline the overdraft option when applying for a donor account, or any account on which you don't envisage using an overdraft. This helps to minimise the temporary impact on your file.

If you aren't looking for a mortgage or any other important products (0% balance transfer for instance) then 2-3 searches in any 6 month period are fine.

Beartricks

Kim_13 wrote: »

^ Searches are removed after 1 year (Equifax and Experian) and 2 years (CallCredit) also. So if you were wanting to remortgage in 2020 as in badger09's example, the searches would be gone by then.

It's always advisable to decline the overdraft option when applying for a donor account, or any account on which you don't envisage using an overdraft. This helps to minimise the temporary impact on your file.

If you aren't looking for a mortgage or any other important products (0% balance transfer for instance) then 2-3 searches in any 6 month period are fine.

I declined the overdraft option when I opened a second account with my current bank because I'm not planning on using it to spend, I just want some money to sit in it and make a bit of interest. I was still given an overdraft of £500. Is this normal?

egyptiancotton

Managed to open a new donor account today. I plan to switch my BT and PayPal DDs. My PayPal account is linked to my bank account for funding, and BT counts as an active DD but they added credit to my BT account because of a complaint I raised due to their error a few months ago; so the credit is paying off my bill each month but the DD is still active. I thought it would be better to switch 2 DDs that are the least hassle to worry about for my first switch.

Kim_13

@Beartricks - It's never happened to me (I've declined overdrafts 5 times.)
If you wanted you could ask the bank to reduce/remove the facility, but if it isn't likely to cause you a problem in terms of your overall available credit being high, I'd be minded to leave it as is. Other lenders will only see the limit change, not the reason (though you could add a note to your file if you were concerned about the possibility of negative inferences being drawn.)

@lloydyyy - Sounds good. The DD's need to remain active for 28 days after the switch. A DD remains active for 13 months from the last collection. Remember to pay in the £500 within 28 days of completion also.

TSB have a £5 cashback offer for 2 direct debits paid each month until 30th June 2018, so you could add others once switched in if you'd like to take advantage of this offer. There's also some cashback available for debit card transactions until this time, see here: https://www.tsb.co.uk/cashback-terms-and-conditions.pdf