New bank account needed?

Nattylou74

I am being gifted a very substantial amount of money, enough to buy a house of my own. Obviously it will be a cash purchase. 
I was wondering if I should open a new account, just for this money, to literally go into and then straight out again. I don't particularly want it mixed in with my "everyday" spending.

Toilet rolls, pasta, 3 bed semi 😂.

Any advice gratefully received. 

penners324

That'll likely flag for fraud if you do that and freeze it for time.

You should pre warn your bank it's coming in and from where and that you'll likely move it to a savings account

RacingDriver

You can have as many accounts as you like (subject to each accounts T&Cs).

My concern with opening a new account and immediately received a large amount of money into it is if the bank has no history with you they may see it as suspicious and flag the transaction.

kaMelo

Nothing wrong with opening a savings account for this purpose, to keep the money separate.  Assuming the money will be paid via transfer/cheque then again nothing unusual. Some may ask about it, some may not, but if you have documentation to show where it's come from then it shouldn't be a problem.
Wandering in with £100,000 in cash however may not be quite so straightforward.

Zanderman

Open a savings account with your existing bank.

Warn them that the money is coming in.

jimjames

Also be aware that being gifted may raise more questions rather than getting inheritance. Depending on the person gifting there may also be other liability down the line such as IHT.

Nattylou74

It's not an inheritance 

Zanderman

Nattylou74 said:

It's not an inheritance 

But it might be regarded as inheritance if the donor died within 7 years of the gift.  Always worth bearing that in mind.

https://www.gov.uk/inheritance-tax/gifts

Nattylou74

Can I withdraw the money straight away from a savings account or do I have to wait for a certain length of time? 

RacingDriver

Nattylou74 said:

Can I withdraw the money straight away from a savings account or do I have to wait for a certain length of time? 

Depends on the terms of the savings account.

Zanderman

Nattylou74 said:

Can I withdraw the money straight away from a savings account or do I have to wait for a certain length of time? 

You can withdraw anytime from what are often called easy access accounts.  Interest rates on those are very poor though.

If you want better interest (though all rates are abysmal at the moment) you'll need to think about fixed term accounts, which will have restrictions on withdrawals.

All accounts differ though - you need to review the options on review sites such as this one:  https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/