Intelligent Finance

MilleMolly74

Hiya. We’ve seen on the media that Intelligent Finance are closing all of their customers current accounts. We haven’t received anything at all yet from IF to notify us of this, but we’re a bit concerned as we’ve banked with them for over 20 years. Our main concern is that we have a large overdraft with them and due to the current cost of living crisis, we max this out every month now. Does anyone know what will happen regarding this when they close our account? We don’t have the spare cash to pay it off, so will we be able to pay it off in instalments? I’ve spent hours on the phone to IF but none of their staff have been able to give me any answers!! 

[Deleted User]

Do you not have any savings to pay off the overdraft. If not maybe ask for suggestions on the Debt Free Wannabe threads. Being permanently in an overdraft is costly. If they do close your account they may well sell your debt to a collection  which could lead to default marker on your credit file. 

Have you got a monthly budget taking into account income and expenditure? Best wishes.

grumbler

All overdrafts are repayable on demand, i.e. no 'installments' unless they do you a favour.
Post your 'state of affairs' on Debt-free wannabe   board here.

DietIrnBru

i thought they had wound down years ago - discovering they are still out there and have legacy customers is like discovering Jurassic Park - the original 1993 version.

pridehappy

Doesn’t surprise me, very poor service from Lloyds Banking Group.

You’ll need to open a current and savings account elsewhere as Intelligent Finance are closing all accounts. You can use the current account switch service to apply for another account elsewhere.

As mentioned, if you do have savings to pay-off your overdraft, this is by far the best option. You’re then free to receive a switching offer, or switch to a bank of your choice (I’d recommend Nationwide still for £100/£200 a year hopefully and great service and products).

As you’re in a large overdraft, I’d recommend Nationwide FlexDirect. It’s a completely free overdraft for 12 months, which gives you a larger period to pay it off. The limit is the same as your arranged overdraft limit. However, you’ll need to check they will accept you for a large enough overdraft to fill before switching. You can check this online first before applying.

If so, you’ll usually transfer the funds from Nationwide once the account is running to pay-off the outstanding overdraft with Intelligent Finance.

Alternatively, if this isn’t an option, you can do look around for a suitable money transfer card, which will allow you to pay Intelligent Finance and then the debit is carried on (sometimes interest free) on a credit card and your current account is cleared. However, these usually do come with significant initial fees, although usually far less still than a full-rate overdraft.

MilleMolly74

Thapridehappy said:

Doesn’t surprise me, very poor service from Lloyds Banking Group.

You’ll need to open a current and savings account elsewhere as Intelligent Finance are closing all accounts. You can use the current account switch service to apply for another account elsewhere.

As mentioned, if you do have savings to pay-off your overdraft, this is by far the best option. You’re then free to receive a switching offer, or switch to a bank of your choice (I’d recommend Nationwide still for £100/£200 a year hopefully and great service and products).

As you’re in a large overdraft, I’d recommend Nationwide FlexDirect. It’s a completely free overdraft for 12 months, which gives you a larger period to pay it off. The limit is the same as your arranged overdraft limit. However, you’ll need to check they will accept you for a large enough overdraft to fill before switching. You can check this online first before applying.

If so, you’ll usually transfer the funds from Nationwide once the account is running to pay-off the outstanding overdraft with Intelligent Finance.

Alternatively, if this isn’t an option, you can do look around for a suitable money transfer card, which will allow you to pay Intelligent Finance and then the debit is carried on (sometimes interest free) on a credit card and your current account is cleared. However, these usually do come with significant initial fees, although usually far less still than a full-rate overdraft.

Thank you 😊 This is very helpful. 

WillPS

Consider getting a 0% purchase credit card, using that up to the value of your overdraft, then stop using the card for purchases and use the 0% period to bring your debt down.

If you'd be tempted to go further than needed then don't do this, but it would allow you potentially up to 2 years to resolve the debt (and if longer is needed you can then transfer the debt using balance transfers).

Either way, as hard as it might sound, you really need to get out of the habit of regularly relying on a large overdraft.

pridehappy said:

Doesn’t surprise me, very poor service from Lloyds Banking Group.

You’ll need to open a current and savings account elsewhere as Intelligent Finance are closing all accounts. You can use the current account switch service to apply for another account elsewhere.

What exactly is your expectation for how LBG should behave in this instance? As you acknowledge, they are closing down the entire division.