DRO and Natwest account help!?!

Sjtyler

Hi
I have been going through the process for a DRO, as I had a barclaycard debt I was advised to change my bank account away from Barclays just in case. I switched last month to a Natwest Select account which has been fine. My DRO is due to be submitted this/next week and now been reading horror stories about Natwest closing/down grading/freezing accounts as they go through all the people who get a DRO??? Please can someone help?? The select account is free but does have a contactless card. I thought I was coming to the end of the stress and was ‘safe’ with my new account?!?! Can anyone help?

Thank you xx

Sjtyler

Can anyone advise??

ToxtethO'Grady

They will probably downgrade your account to a Foundation Account - a basic account that you will still be able to do Direct Debits however you won't have a contactless card it will be a chip & pin debit card, you'll still be able to pay in shops etc. just not contactless.


https://personal.natwest.com/personal/current-accounts/foundation_account.html


You will only have a £10 emergency overdraft facility if the money isn't in your account you won't go any further overdrawn and Direct Debits will not be honoured but will not incur charges.


With a DRO you will be on the Insolvency Register so all banks will remove any access to credit such as an overdraft due to that.

fatbelly

That's already a fairly basic account. You're likely to lose any overdraft facility you have - other than that you shouldn't have any problems assuming you have no other debts to the Nat West group.

Sjtyler

I have no debts with them and no overdraft

fatbelly

Sjtyler wrote: »

I have no debts with them and no overdraft

I think you'll be OK. The worst that might happen is you lose your contactless card for an old-school one as Toxteth says. Bit pointless of them to do that really.

Rue09

When I was setting up my DRO, I switched to a HSBC basic bank account - I still have access to contactless.

Sounds stupid, but one of my biggest issues when I was looking for a new bank was that some banks give you a debit card which says something along the lines of basic account on it at the top.

I'm a paranoid person and felt people would make the connection if they saw my card in shops etc . The HSBC basic account debit card looks exactly like the one given to current account users and would fully recommend (that is if you don't have debts with HSBC)

- Rue

fatbelly

Maybe being a bit over-sensitive there, but I agree that banks, usually good at dressing their products up - put little effort into their basic accounts. This is the list - take your pick:

Barclays - Basic Current Account
Santander - Basic Current Account
NatWest/Ulster Bank/RBS - Foundation Account
HSBC - Basic Bank Account
Nationwide - FlexBasic
Co-operative Bank - Cashminder
Lloyds/Halifax/Bank of Scotland - Basic Account
TSB - Cash Account
Clydesdale/Yorkshire - Readycash Account
Virgin Money - Essential Current Account
Metro Bank - Cash Account
The Co-operative Bank - Cashminder