Switching

Psyduck1980

I have a couple of questions regarding the switching process - can anybody on here help?

1. Do you only get credit checked when you apply for a new current account if you elect to have an arranged overdraft?
2. How much of an impact does multiple current account applications within, say, 12 months have on your credit rating? I've switched 3 times in the last year and wondering if this could lead to problems when the time comes to re-mortgage.

Thanks in advance for your help.

N1ckS

You'll get credit checked regardless of whether you apply for an overdraft.

It will have an impact but it only forms part of your overall rating. It might help to keep one account open for a while and not use it for switching.

Psyduck1980

N1ckS wrote: »

You'll get credit checked regardless of whether you apply for an overdraft.

Is that because you are effectively given credit anyway in the form of an un-arranged overdraft?

gingercordial

Psyduck1980 wrote: »

Is that because you are effectively given credit anyway in the form of an un-arranged overdraft?

Effectively yes - with a current account you could go overdrawn whether arranged or not and therefore it is a debt facility. Savings accounts don't allow a negative balance so they don't appear.

ETA: I am one of those current account tarts with double digits of them for various interest rates, access to regular savers, switching bonuses etc. I will be shutting most of them down at least six months before I try to by a house as a FTB in a year or two, partly because I don't want that access to credit to appear on my report (not that any of them have arranged overdraft facilities) but also because I don't want it to look complicated/suspicious for a bank or mortgage broker and I don't want them to have to wade through stacks of paperwork to trace all the payments in and out. Simple seems best there.

Fan_Of_2018

Yes, every time you open a current account they do a credit check. It normally says this clearly on the screen when you apply online. Its probably not worth playing too many tricks close to when you want to apply for a mortgage.