Private Bank Accounts

bellalloyd

Hello, I’m moving back to England after working as a general practitioner in Canada for 6 years, here in England I’m part of the management of a few practices in the North East of England ..I’m eligible for a Private Bank Account and I’m considering either Barclays or Lloyds as from word of mouth those two seem to have the best reputations... does anybody on here privately bank with Barclays or Lloyd’s and can recommend them, or perhaps even as a general bank who do people seem to hold in a higher regard?

Thank you in advance

cryptomagic

Is there any way to avoid dealing with banks in life?

System

A real Private Bank perhaps?

18cc

What are you looking for or indeed expecting from a private bank account as I suspect you'll be sorely disappointed in any High Street Bank.

Marchitiello

It is important to clarify if you are after a "Premier" account offered by high street banks like Barclays and Lloyds or you are after and qualify for a real Private account (generally suitable for people with assets excluding properties of at least £250k but commonly minimum of £1 million .

Premier banks accounts have some small benefits and are generally offered for free, targeted at customers with an income of at least £75k. Barclays Premier (Some Small Perks) and HSBC Premier (insurance, access to good travel credit card etc) are probably the best free products.

Private Bank Accounts (Real)
The high street banks also have "private" divisions targeted at very high net worth individuals, and other then Lloyd, Barclays, Natwest/RBS, Santander with the word private next to it, also include controlled subsidiaries like Cater Allen (Santander) and Coutts (RBS)

Among the real private banks:

Duncan Lawrie would have been my first port of call, but it is winding down its operations and closed to new business.
Now:
Arbuthnot Latham & Co
Brown, Shipley & Co
Weatherbys Bank

or if you are really loaded:
C. Hoare & Co
or some of the swiss or US private banks with a UK banking licence