Bills account dilemma...

cska

Hi there, I am a student who already has 3 bank accounts and am currently using them for different needs. Next year I will have to be responsible for sorting bills with my flatmates in our rented accommodation and was told the best way to do this is to set up another basic account from which they can transfer bills etc. to in order that we can pay bills from one account. My dilemma is that I don't really want to have to go through the checks etc. which take place to open another bank account. Is there a way of getting around this? Are there 'accounts' you can have which can store money and which people can pay into, but which you can make outgoing payments from without it having to be a conventional current account? Thanks for your help.

Neil_Jones

The checks are there for a reason.

You could always open an easy access savings account, then people can dump the money in there and you can farm it out to specific accounts as and when (but check T&Cs as some only allow withdrawal to a nominated account where others will let you withdraw to where you like)

Murmansk

Well I opened a Starling account and it was very simple, didn't take long. It is a current account and you can set up separate "goals" as they call them which means what I'd call pots. You could create pots for your various purposes eg people or specific bills.

Also, you can use their "settle up" feature where you give people a link, they click it and get taken to your sub-page of the Starling website where they can pay you via debit card.

Westie983

I dont want to put a downer on things, but be wary for the reason if your flatmates fail to make the payments then you are left with having to make the payments and the miss payments and failed DD.

You also need to think about putting more then just you on the bills so you are not liable for payments if others do not pay, for example the electric and gas.

Lots of stories on here about people who have got into a pickle as a student due to shared houses and affecting them in the future which they never thought off, (history can take six years to rectify and drop off)

A solution for this could be for everyone to take responsibility for a bill each so you are not taking on the admin for all the bills.

Westie983

cska

Westie983 wrote: »

...Lots of stories on here about people who have got into a pickle as a student due to shared houses and affecting them in the future...
Westie983

This is partly what I'm worried about... I know they'll pay me if I chase them but don't want it to be too late. Saying this we didn't have any issues with this type of thing when one of the others was on bills next year. The account I'll probably use has no overdraft facility so any payments will be straight out declined which I suppose is another problem from the point of view of DDs. However, our water and gas bills are usually not on a DD but I'll have to double check.

Murmansk wrote: »

Well I opened a Starling account and it was very simple, didn't take long. It is a current account and you can set up separate "goals" as they call them which means what I'd call pots. You could create pots for your various purposes eg people or specific bills...

I have a Starling account. Do the pots literally set aside the money? Or when you run out of money on your main account does money start getting taken from the pots? Certainly something for me to look into, thanks

Neil_Jones wrote: »

The checks are there for a reason.

You could always open an easy access savings account...

For sure, I understand why there are checks. I meant it more as a point of not drawing undue attention to myself as I've already recently opened a couple of accounts and it seems unnecessary to open a further one just for the purpose of collecting my flatmates money for bills. Easy access savings isn't something I'd thought of, but I'll certainly have a look around!

SnowTiger

cska wrote: »

Hi there, I am a student who already has 3 bank accounts and am currently using them for different needs. Next year I will have to be responsible for sorting bills with my flatmates in our rented accommodation and was told the best way to do this is to set up another basic account from which they can transfer bills etc. to in order that we can pay bills from one account. My dilemma is that I don't really want to have to go through the checks etc. which take place to open another bank account. Is there a way of getting around this? Are there 'accounts' you can have which can store money and which people can pay into, but which you can make outgoing payments from without it having to be a conventional current account? Thanks for your help.

Monzo and Virgin Money offer bank accounts and will only perform an ID check when you open one.

Virgin Money pays 0.75% interest on balances.

You can make direct debit payments from both accounts and they come with a debit card; both accounts will bounce payments that would make your account go overdrawn without charging a fee. As with any bank account, it's technically possible to go overdrawn (using TfL for example), but that's unlikely to happen on a account that's used for household bills only.

Downsides of a Virgin Money account are that it can only be opened in-store; you'll have to sit through an hour-long chat while the account is explained to you; and their on-line service is extremely basic. New payees, for example, can only be set up in-store or via the phone. That may be a positive point in some cases.

Most easy access savings accounts come with a sort code and account number for receiving payments and you can make bill payments from them as bank transfers. They also only require an ID check.

Many savings accounts offered by building societies will only allow withdrawals to one specific nominated account.

Chelsea BS and its sister, Yorkshire BS, will allow you to send payments to several different accounts.

Loot might be the best option. It's a pre-paid card that operates like a bank account. No credit check, no fees and you get a sort code and account number for receiving payments. You can make transfers out. Loot doesn't offer direct debit payments at the moment.

PRAISETHESUN

Perhaps consider opening up a second account with one of the three banks you already have accounts with? They should already have your information on file which should make the account opening process quicker and easier. I can vouch for that with Nationwide (I have opened up multiple accounts which I have used for switching incentives, and the process for opening a second and third account was hassle-free and quick). Monzo, Starling and Revolut were quick and easy to open in my experience as well. You can set aside the money in pots for various purposes. For Monzo at least they state on their website "Because you’ve set it aside for saving, money in your pots won’t be included in your available balance, and you won’t be able to spend it. If plans change or you find yourself low on funds, you can always move money from a pot back into your main account."

Also I'd take the advice above about having the bills in multiple names so you aren't stuck with them if the others decide not to pay you. Not that you appear to have considered it, but I'd also be wary about opening joint accounts with others as that would financially link you to them which could potentially hurt you in the long run.

agrinnall

Duplicate thread on the Student board.


https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5886058/sorting-student-bills

Silver_Queen

This is the method that I used when I was a student and was left in charge of the bills.

At the start of the year when everything was still amicable (it's extremely common to fall out with housemates!) I got everyone to set up a monthly standing order to my specific bills account for the same day as rent was due. I think it was £40 each per month for gas, electricity, water, internet and cleaning supplies etc. From then on, every time I was asked how much rent was I told them "XXX amount which is XXX amount rent and XX amount bills" so everyone considered bills to be part of rent, if that makes sense.

When we eventually fell out, everyone still continued to pay £40 per month via the standing order they'd already set up because they were too lazy to cancel it and quite liked the fact that the house always had loo roll and kitchen roll. It was too much hassle for them to cancel it, whereas if I'd left them to pay monthly it would have been easy for them to just neglect paying.

The £40 a month left me with a bit of a buffer in case anyone decided they couldn't be bothered to pay. I also set the DD for gas and electric to be very high because I knew I'd get it back at the end of the year if we had overpaid and wouldn't leave me in a pickle like it would have if we'd underpaid. At the end of the year we ended up with about £150 spare in the account so I divided it between all of us, sent it to them via the bank details I had saved and then deleted them from my account and never spoke to them again!

If you don't want to set up a separate bank account you could always have the money into your normal account but I would keep a really careful detailed spreadsheet in case anyone accused you of stealing their money. Also, if you have issues with spending, you may end up in a tricky position if you accidentally spend all the bills money and have no money to pay the bills with!