Big thank you to Nottingham Building Society 21 January at 6:50PM in Budgeting & bank accounts 6 replies 460 views

Gnoley

I tried to register a POA with the Nottingham only to be told that they wouldn't accept a Scottish POA. I then emailed head office through their web page and got a phone call the next day saying that they had changes their policy and apologising for the problem. I'm very impressed with how quickly they responded. Well done to them!

SiliconChip

You can see why they might not have accepted it: some Building Societies only allow customers from a restricted area, so if Nottingham BS had been one of these (and I have no idea if they are) a customer resident in Scotland could well be excluded. However, good on them for changing their policy so quickly and giving you the result that you needed.

WillPS

SiliconChip said:

You can see why they might not have accepted it: some Building Societies only allow customers from a restricted area, so if Nottingham BS had been one of these (and I have no idea if they are) a customer resident in Scotland could well be excluded. However, good on them for changing their policy so quickly and giving you the result that you needed.

1 - Nottingham Building Society do not restrict their products geographically within the UK, and until recently has a pretty spread out branch network including places as far afield as St Albans 

2 - even if they did, failure to recognise a legal power of attorney within the UK would still not be acceptable IMO, as people move about and any such terms are only relevant at the point of application. Even the more restrictive societies like Cumberland don't close your accounts if you move away (within the UK).

ForumUser7

@WillPS Does Nottingham BS let people apply through the post? It looks like all the products are branch only but I know sometimes companies let you apply through the post with a branch. While it doesn’t have postcode restrictions, if you live far away from a branch you can’t get to one to open it, unless they do allow it through the post with a branch

WillPS

ForumUser7 said:

@WillPS Does Nottingham BS let people apply through the post? It looks like all the products are branch only but I know sometimes companies let you apply through the post with a branch. While it doesn’t have postcode restrictions, if you live far away from a branch you can’t get to one to open it, unless they do allow it through the post with a branch

They certainly allow you to apply for some products by post, or even online in the case of Beehive Money.

I'm not sure that it would matter either way though, even if you once had to visit a branch there is nothing stopping you moving within the UK.

Fingerbobs

WillPS said:
Nottingham Building Society do not restrict their products geographically within the UK, and until recently has a pretty spread out branch network including places as far afield as St Albans 

There is still a branch in St Albans according to their web site. I've been in it a few times. 

Gnoley

As it happens, my mother opened her account about 7 years ago in my local branch in person. She was visiting me one xmas. The branch said at the time that where she lived permanently, in Scotland, was no barrier to opening an account.