1st time switcher question

saintscouple

Due to Lloyds increase for the £3 waiver on the club account, I´ve decided to take the plunge and switch to Santander.
I´ve been with Lloyds for donkey years, so this is my 1st ever switch. 

My question is on disability benefit income - Will Santander inform the DWP of new bank details on my behalf, or do i have to contact them myself? 

Thank you

penners324

They will inform them but it's best to inform DWP as well

Bridlington1

As part of the CASS, any payments made to your old Lloyds account will be automatically forwarded on to your Santander account for the next couple of years so even if they're not informed straight away you will still get the payments.

If I were you though I'd be tempted to open a Lloyds classic account and switch that instead. This is because it would enable you to still keep the advantages of having a Club Lloyds account whilst simultaneously taking advantage of the Santander switching offer. Moreover if you've had the Lloyds account for a long time just keeping the Lloyds account open (even if you end up downgrading it into a classic account) will positively affect your credit report.

saintscouple

Bridlington1 said:

As part of the CASS, any payments made to your old Lloyds account will be automatically forwarded on to your Santander account for the next couple of years so even if they're not informed straight away you will still get the payments.

If I were you though I'd be tempted to open a Lloyds classic account and switch that instead. This is because it would enable you to still keep the advantages of having a Club Lloyds account whilst simultaneously taking advantage of the Santander switching offer. Moreover if you've had the Lloyds account for a long time just keeping the Lloyds account open (even if you end up downgrading it into a classic account) will positively affect your credit report.

Thank you,

I have already instigated the switch of the Club Lloyds account, but i do have a secondary classic account which i used for paying bills, which i´ve had equally as long, so i´ll keep that one open for credit report purposes. 

Neil49

I switched from TSB to First Direct and the actual switch took place the day before my state pension was due. The funds arrived OK but I phoned the pensions department to advise them of my new bank details only to discover that they already had the information in their system. 

Katiehound

I just want to point out that you would have been able to keep the Club Lloyds account with increasing pay in by just sending £500 out to your other account   and then send it back in to make up to £2 k.

saintscouple

Katiehound said:

I just want to point out that you would have been able to keep the Club Lloyds account with increasing pay in by just sending £500 out to your other account   and then send it back in to make up to £2 k.

Thank you, the income wasn´t the issue as such, have over £2k coming in every month, was just the principle and the fact that the £200 switching bonus caught my eye. 
We didn´t have any interest in the gift side of things with the account either, opting to get a magazine for Dr waiting room, but even that stopped due to covid as it no longer offering reading material. 
The stars were aligned to switch haha 

AmityNeon

There's also the option of simply upgrading the Classic to a Club if the benefits ever did become attractive again.