major bank wont let me change dd to another acc, legal?

James3D

Hey there,

I have a business loan from a major bank. I dont have too much to pay off now but my business account costs for monthly charges.

As I am just a freelance sole trader, I phoned a money helpline and according to them, I legally do not need a business account just a personal one where I dont need to pay monthly charges as long as I D/D my NIC contributions from the new one. When I went to my bank to open an account, they said that I legally had to open a business account, ie one that charges a month for 'mantainance fees'.

So I approached my bank to change accounts and they said that the business account has to stay open for the DD loan repayments. When I suggested moving it to a normal account they said this was not possible.

There is nothing on my loan agreement paper that mentions this.

Can anyone illuminate on this situation? Or give any links for help?

Thanks.

jonesMUFCforever

Can you not negotiate with the bank that they keep the account open for free provided the only 2 transactions per month on it is your credit and the loan repayment?

If not get another loan from another provider to pay this one off.

Alfie_E

If the loan agreement doesn’t require you to maintain a business account with them for the lifetime of the loan, you can:

• get a new account with a different bank,
• close your old business account and
• give the details of the new account to your old bank, so they can set up a new direct debit.