Nationwide saying to confirm household income but I live with relatives, I can't be asking them this

Clementinosh

Hi all

I notice when I log into my nationwide account that it is asking for information such as Nationality and asking for my household income and other personal information. They say I have until February to complete this information, but I don't feel comfortable answering some of the questions as they would involve approaching other people in my household and asking them their salary, which I feel is wrong. 

Do I legally have to answer their questions? They would have had a copy of my passport when I first opened the account, so surely that's on them if they didnt record the data...
And what if I get the questions wrong (for example, I could 'assume' someone earns £150,000,000 pa* - would I get penalised for this?) 

If I choose not to answer these questions, can Nationwide cut me off? If so, will I be able to move the money in that account (its not loads as its not my primary account, just one I use to squirrel away a little bit of money each month) or should I just close the account down now?


*BTW I doubt anyone I live with earns that much money. if they did then they are the biggest misers in the world.

itsthelittlethings

Are you an adult? Do you share or live with family? In either case I’d say that your household income is you alone.

Flugelhorn

I have the same problem - we have joint account but only I do online banking - getting really annoyed with the pop up thing, tried to complete it once but it crashed. Didn't get as far as comments about passport

Zanderman

You don't 'legally' have to do anything. This is merely a question from your bank (who are asking you questions to comply with their interpretation of their legal obligations not yours).

But the bank can refuse to continue to offer you an account if you don't answer these questions, so it is best to answer! 

If you're not comfortable asking about other people's incomes you could either just guess (but keep it realistic, maybe just average UK earnings or similar) or simply just give your own. 

eskbanker

My interpretation of household income would be those with whom you share finances, e.g. spouse and dependents, rather than literally everyone living under the same roof (which could technically encompass flat shares, for example), so 'living with relatives' suggests something beyond a typical immediate family unit and is probably not what they had in mind.

boingy

I think in this context "household" means you and your spouse/partner if they live there too. The fact that there are other people in the house is not relevant unless they are your dependents or vice versa. So tell 'em your income rather than that of everyone who lives there. As for the other questions, they probably already know the answers to most of them but if you are not comfortable answering them you can choose not to but they may decide you can't stay as a customer and you'll probably have to give the same info to any new bank you choose.

WillPS

Multiple 'households' can exist within one address. Household income in this context is your own as an independent adult, not anyone upon whom you enjoy the hospitality of currently; or otherwise merely happen to live with.

pridehappy

Just provide your personal details, I'd recommend doing it however, as you could risk your account being closed if you don't provide the details.

General_Grant

When I was sharing a flat with 3 others at the time of the 1971 Census, the person distributing/collecting the census forms gave each of us a form and said we should complete them as separate households.   So I shared not only a kitchen and bathroom with other households but also a bedroom with another household.

From this, OP, answer the Nationwide question just for myself.