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mgriff5

Hi

I am interesting in doing the switching tarting as detailed in the latest MSE newsletter :money:

The only thing is, my credit score used to be excellent but it has taken a hammering in the past 12 months due to taking out a larger mortgage (to release equity for house extension) and a personal loan I took out a few weeks ago for a new (2nd-hand) car.

Any thoughts on whether I should crack on or wait until my score lifts a bit?

EachPenny

mgriff5 wrote: »

I am interesting in doing the switching tarting as detailed in the latest MSE newsletter

The only thing is, my credit score used to be excellent but it has taken a hammering in the past 12 months due to taking out a larger mortgage (to release equity for house extension) and a personal loan I took out a few weeks ago for a new (2nd-hand) car.

Any thoughts on whether I should crack on or wait until my score lifts a bit?

The only time I've not been credit checked was when I opened a second account with one bank not long after opening another one with them. Even if you don't want an overdraft you still get checked normally.

In terms of your 'score' - the advice most people give on the forum is to ignore the made-up number you've been given. This is something you see, but the banks don't.

Unless you are planning on making more applications for mortgages or loans in the near future then having a search now for a bank account is not likely to make any difference - if you get declined you just need to wait a bit longer and try again. Assuming you've not made lots of credit applications recently then it is unlikely you'll get declined for a current account just based on credit scoring.

madmum8335

Has anyone managed to open a Nationwide Flexdirect account online recently?
I get part way through the application and it says "an error has occurred. Please try again later".
I've tried 3 times in the last week (I clear my cookies/history every time just in case) but still having issues.

Thanks

bioboybill

madmum8335 wrote: »

Has anyone managed to open a Nationwide Flexdirect account online recently?
I get part way through the application and it says "an error has occurred. Please try again later".
I've tried 3 times in the last week (I clear my cookies/history every time just in case) but still having issues.

Thanks

I opened one online about 2 weeks ago. No problems, but already have Flexplus.

Jax_in_Witney

hooperman81 wrote: »

HSBC disaster. I applied to switch accounts online using the switching service. It seemed to be taking some time 'Opened beginning of Nov'. I called them on the 28th of Dec to be told that I needed to have called earlier and that the switching needed to be activated! 'I thought this was all part of the switching service'! I am apparently no longer eligible for the cash back! (30 days from account opening to activation).
I halted the switch there and then on the phone because my only incentive was to switch for the cashback I asked for my account to be closed. Frankly it has been an absolute waste of my time and theirs. There was no offer of assistance when I explained that I didn't think the switching service activation was clear enough, there was no suggestion of resuming my switch with an offer to honour the cashback. I am extremely disappointed. Maybe I must have missed something in the welcome pack!?? But if anyone were to say it is trouble free, then this is obviously not always the case.

I had this problem about a year ago; HSBC put so many hoops into the system for you to jump through it's not actually possible to complete the 7 day switch in 7 days from when you first apply, and the way they've done it appears to comply with the 7 day switch guarantee, as the 7 days countdown starts AFTER you've completed x, y and z (x, y & z being time-delaying hoops that HSBC put in your way). My experience was that it took a total of just over 30 days (which made me ineligible for the cash back), 3 very inconvenient visits to a branch (one of which took over an hour, when I normally only take 30 minutes lunch break at work) and a couple of trees' worth of paper (not just them giving me a big pile of unnecessary paperwork, but they required me to print out a LOT of past bank statements).

Having wasted so much of my time and paper, I wrote a very terse complaint letter, and although the reply stated that as per their rules I was definitely not eligible for the cash back (even though it was their multiple delays at processing stuff that made the switch take over 30 days), they did offer me £200 'goodwill gesture' - as that's the same amount as the switching bonus & the 12 month loyalty bonus, I waited until it cleared into my account and did a genuine 7 day switch to TSB, who didn't offer a switching incentive, but their rewards are good and their customer service has been a thousand times better than HSBC!

schiff

Nationwide operated the internal standing order from my Flex Account to my regular saver on January 1st. My funds to cover that and other standing orders are transferred to Nationwide nominally on the first of the month but of course only hit the Flex Account on the 2nd. October 1st was also a Sunday and Nationwide operated the SO from the FA to the RS on the 2nd, as one would normally expect. So it's not consistent.

I've successfully reversed the £5 transaction fee and 10p overdraft that they charged for the day. Apparently as it's my first claim? And they suggest:

"As your regular Transfer in isn't set up with Nationwide, you will need to get in touch with the bank or building society that it is set up with to see why it wasn't sent on 01/01/2018"

I've told them why it wasn't sent on the 1st and that's without contacting my bank!

Nebulous2

Jax_in_Witney wrote: »

I had this problem about a year ago; HSBC put so many hoops into the system for you to jump through it's not actually possible to complete the 7 day switch in 7 days from when you first apply, and the way they've done it appears to comply with the 7 day switch guarantee, as the 7 days countdown starts AFTER you've completed x, y and z (x, y & z being time-delaying hoops that HSBC put in your way).

I also missed the time limit for the bonus around a year ago, but was put straight through on the phone to someone who registered it as a complaint and paid the £200 there and then. Good result I thought, instead of waiting a year for the extra £50. I've kept the account to get the regular saver.

schiff

schiff wrote: »

Nationwide operated the internal standing order from my Flex Account to my regular saver on January 1st. My funds to cover that and other standing orders are transferred to Nationwide nominally on the first of the month but of course only hit the Flex Account on the 2nd. October 1st was also a Sunday and Nationwide operated the SO from the FA to the RS on the 2nd, as one would normally expect. So it's not consistent.

I've successfully reversed the £5 transaction fee and 10p overdraft that they charged for the day. Apparently as it's my first claim? And they suggest:

"As your regular Transfer in isn't set up with Nationwide, you will need to get in touch with the bank or building society that it is set up with to see why it wasn't sent on 01/01/2018"

I've told them why it wasn't sent on the 1st and that's without contacting my bank!

I have the answer. It isn't classed as a standing order, but an internal transfer, and the day of the week doesn't matter, it gets done on the first! Needs watching then as Easter falls around the start of April this year!

clivep

schiff wrote: »

I have the answer. It isn't classed as a standing order, but an internal transfer, and the day of the week doesn't matter, it gets done on the first! Needs watching then as Easter falls around the start of April this year!

Absolutely correct. I have a regular deposit set up for 1st of month from Flexaccount to Regular Saver. This always gets credited on 1st regardless of whether or not this is at the weekend.

It's my responsibility to make sure cleared funds are available in the Flexaccount so the SO into it is set up for a few days before the end of the previous month.

[Deleted User]

This account still seems very attractive cashbacks can eliminate 5£ monthlyfee and 1.5% interest on up to £20000 why has this a/c disappeared from view?
RMD marcus