Can you open a current account with a bank you've recently switched away from?

t1redmonkey

Probably an obvious answer to this...but if I've switched away from a bank (e.g. Natwest) a couple of months ago, and want to open a current account with them again, is there anything stopping them from accepting me? Like is there a 'cooldown period' or anything like that which would mean I can't go back to them until a certain amount of time has lapsed?

soulsaver

AFAIK there's nothing to say you cant apply for another CA after switching... but they can ALWAYS decline you anyway should they wish.
I've done it with Lloyds ... more than a couple of times.

18cc

i have also opened a current account the day after switching away

ValiantSon

There are no rules preventing this. It is up to the individual bank whether or not they wish to accept your custom. In many instances, I imagine, they would give you an account, but if you kept doing it they may decide to stop doing so.

OceanSound

Starling bank has a 12 month 'cooldown period'. e.g. I switched away from Starling in April 2018, so I cannot open new account before APril 2019.

Found out the hard way when I tried opening again using app, it just prompted for a password. :mad:
Tried my old password many times, then rang support. They told me about the 'cooling off period'. To be fair, this does seem to appear buried in their FAQ, which says:

Starling accounts are very popular right now. It is our current policy not to open new accounts for previous account holders for a period of 12 months from the date of closure or switch of your old account. At this stage it is also not possible to reopen old accounts.

The app should have said this when I tried to open new account.

northwalesd

OceanSound wrote: »

The app should have said this when I tried to open new account.

Although that information may be of more use when you actually start the account closure process.

OceanSound

northwalesd wrote: »

Although that information may be of more use when you actually start the account closure process.

When I contacted support they told me 'We do make customers aware of this [cooling off period] when they contact us before closing their accounts'. From this I can only presume they make customers aware when closing account, as opposed to switching (because I was never made aware at any point during the switching process).

18cc

Where abouts a bank may very well let you reopen an account after switching you cannot get the same sort code and account number you will get a brand new account number this is because redirection is in place for 2 years for payments made into your old account to the account you switch to so that account number cannot be reused

ValiantSon

18cc wrote: »

Where abouts a bank may very well let you reopen an account after switching you cannot get the same sort code and account number you will get a brand new account number this is because redirection is in place for 2 years for payments made into your old account to the account you switch to so that account number cannot be reused

Why would you want the same sort code and account number?

18cc

Not saying you would but if you did then you couldn't.

takman

18cc wrote: »

Where abouts a bank may very well let you reopen an account after switching you cannot get the same sort code and account number you will get a brand new account number this is because redirection is in place for 2 years for payments made into your old account to the account you switch to so that account number cannot be reused

Redirection is actually a minimum of three years from when the account is closed and only stops once no payments have been redirected for 13 months, so potentially could go on indefinetly.